Delfino AnimVacation
by Pete the Rock
Summary: 15-Way crossover. 15 groups have ventured to Isle Delfino for a two-week vacation.
1. Expected by Land, Arrive by Sea & Air

Disclaimer: No ownership of Pokémon, Digimon, Bleach, Cardcaptor Sakura, Detective Conan, Fullmetal Alchemist, Girls Bravo, InuYasha, Maburaho, Negima!, Pani Poni Dash, Rave Master, Sailor Moon, Super Mario, Tenchi Muyo and Yu-Gi-Oh!

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 _ **Delfino AnimVacation**_

 _Chapter 1: Expected by Land, Arrive by Sea and Air_

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A large island in the middle of an ocean, the shape of a dolphin. A tropical paradise which was home to large humanoid creatures with multiple colors, grass skirts and palm trees on their heads as well as little creatures with conch shells as clothing. There were also some little men with mushroom caps worn like turbans while wearing open vests. That's when one more young man came running through the streets between buildings. Donning a sky blue polo shirt and khaki shorts, he was a black-haired man with brown eyes behind a pair of glasses and he seemed to be on the search. "Piantas?" he called. "¿Alguien vio a dónde se dirigía Pedro?" One yellow humanoid pointed in a direction. "Gracias!" He resumed his trek through the island when he spotted a young ponytail blond man moving pottery around with a few of the young men in the mushroom hats. He also wore glasses over bluish-green eyes, not to mention wearing the same sky blue polo and shorts. "Pete!" The blond turned to find the black-haired approaching.

"Diego?" he wondered. The brunette reached Pete, a little out of breath.

"Amigo, you told me for a couple of years about how hard you're to find but seriously…" Pete scoffed to Diego's gripe.

"Degs, I don't try to hide at all… Though my childhood is a bit of an adventure on its own. Anyway, what's up?"

"Neo called me about a ferry nearing the island. There's a good chance it's got some of our guests arriving." To Pete, he had a job.

"Gotcha! I'll head out! Take five, Toads!" The mushroom caps nodded before running off. That's when Diego remembered something else but Pete escaped.

"Oh yeah… Do you know where the-" A revving of the engine stopped Diego before he turned to find a jeep rolling out. Seeing the jeep, Diego shrugged. "Never mind..." Pete drove to the pier where he found a boat approaching shore as reported. On board were two ponytail blonds and a giant suit of armor. The young man wore a red trench over black clothing with his hair braided. The other was a young woman wearing a leather jacket over a white blouse and a skirt.

"We'll be docking in a few minutes," the captain announced. "Make sure you have everything with you as you enter the island."

"Will do!" the young woman nodded. When the boat docked, Pete stepped forward to help the three out.

"Aloha!" he greeted. "Welcome to Isle Delfino." He helped each one out but the armored one became the most difficult. A black dog with a white underbelly jumped off as well, a front left leg appearing in metallic.

"Easy!" The other two blonds aided in pulling the armor on shore.

"Come on, Al!" the young man yelled. Finally, the armor stood on the dock, but Pete fell over from the force of the yank, plunging into the ocean. A few seconds later, he resurfaced.

"You okay?" the young woman asked in concern. Both blonds reached down and pulled Pete from the drink.

"So that's why Degs wanted me to have towels on hand," he mulled. The armor stared down Pete.

" **Yeah, you may wanna dry up before you take us to… wherever you're taking us,"** it snickered. Pete looked up to the armor, nodding to it.

"For sure." That's when he realized it wasn't from the blonds. It came from the suit of armor. "Wait… you can talk?" To the blonds, Pete's reaction was expected.

"Yet another satisfied customer, right Alphonse?" she pointed out.

" **How many times has it been, now?"** asked Alphonse. **"Well over a hundred people..."** Pete groaned but had to deal with this finding.

"That's a gust of wind of a new direction," he mulled. "Anyway, once I dry up, we'll head to the hotel. I do have your keys for your room. You two can sit in front with me while Alphonse and your canine can take the backseat." After toweling off, all three boarded the jeep with Pete behind the wheel. "I'm Pete, by the way. I'm one of four staffers on this island resort. You'll meet the rest later tonight when our other guests arrive via airport." Hearing about more people coming, the young woman grew excited.

"I heard about more people coming," she clapped before having an idea. "Is it possible for us to meet them?" To the boys, the young woman wanted to see the others visiting Isle Delfino.

"Winry, why?" the young man questioned.

"Come on, Edward! Don't you wanna meet them as well?"

"It ruins the night if we meet them now!" Alphonse pondered about seeing the other vacationers.

" **Pete, you're not driving everyone to the hotel where we're all staying, right?"** he guessed.

"No, as a matter of fact," Pete figured. "You can meet each other while riding the Wiggler Buses which will also reach the hotels. I can take you to the airport, no problem." Edward groaned to the idea of visiting the airport instead of resting up for the day. That's when the dog looked to find a blimp descending from the sky and barked. Alphonse turned to the dog with the prosthetic leg.

" **Den, what is it?"** Looking up, they saw the blimp floating down toward the ground.

"Looks like some of the arrivals are touching down. Let's go meet them." Pete drove to a large structure with a sun having eyes at the front, its sign reading "SUNSHINE AIRPORT."

"Pete, what were they riding in?" asked Winry.

"A blimp. I told others will be arriving in jets." As they entered, Edward saw Den joining and petted its head.

"Sorry, Den," he told the dog. "You can't come in here." Pete came to Edward to clarify some rules about the airport.

"Den can come in. I'm sure everything will be fine." Den stepped to Pete and pounced him, licking his face mercilessly. "Ah! Okay! You're welcome! Help!" Winry came over to save Pete from Den's tongue bath.

"Bad girl!" she scolded as she pulled Den off Pete. Getting up, Pete wiped his face free of Den's kisses.

"Dogs… why are they attracted to me?" Entering, saw the interior with conveyor belts and monitors. Coming out of the a gate were three people and a tiny white humanoid creature with no ears but with an orange drill as a nose. There was a silver-haired young man wearing black with a white undershirt, a young brunette woman in a white tank-top and blue skirt with short staffs attached and a raven-haired young man with piercings over his left eye.

"Got everything, Haru?" the young woman asked. The silver-haired found and strapped a large sword to his back.

"Got it now, Elie," he joked. Den came to see the new people before Alphonse, Edward, Pete and Winry arrived. Finding the tiny creature in the kennel, Den barked to it and alerted Winry to hold back.

"Den, that's enough!" she called out. While Winry kept Den down, Elie checked on the dog in the kennel.

"Are you okay, Plue?" she asked. The tiny dog whimpered, shaking in fear of Den. Winry felt bad for Elie and Plue but was upset with Den.

"Maybe it _wasn't_ such a good idea to bring you in," she scolded. Pete petted Den to have her look up while Winry offered Elie and her boys an apology. "Sorry about that. I didn't think Den would react to… whatever you have in there."

"I was gonna say. Poor Plue's scared out of his wits." She opened the kennel and released Plue to comfort. Viewing the creature, Edward, Alphonse, Pete and Winry gawked at Plue's appearance.

"What… the hell… is that thing?" gulped Edward.

"And I thought Alphonse being your younger brother was hard to believe," Pete murmured. Alphonse leaned in to wonder about Plue himself.

" **Is _this_ another… 'Gust of wind of a new direction' for you?"** he guessed.

"Yes…" Plue ceased the shaking, even taking a deep breath to relax.

"That wasn't so bad," Elie cooed before turning to Winry. "Sorry about that. I'm Elie." She extended an arm out to shake.

"Winry Rockbell, auto-mail mechanic," Winry introduced as she accepted the handshake. Haru and the raven-haired decided to greet the brothers as well.

"Not necessarily the start we'd hope for," Haru sighed. "Maybe the two weeks will be fun with you three around." That's when he offered his hand for shaking. "Haru Glory, at your service. My partner here's Musica." Edward saw Haru using his left hand, nodding to the introduction.

"Edward Elric," he named himself while shaking hands. "Fullmetal Alchemist. You can call me Ed if you want."

" **Just don't call him anything related to small,"** Alphonse warned. **"I'm his younger brother, Alphonse Elric."** Musica twitched his eyebrow at Alphonse's relation to Edward.

"I could ask but I doubt Ed would appreciate it," he acknowledged. That's when Den barked to the window. Coming into view were jets and one was landing. That one had a pair of kids, a blond boy and a brunette girl, along with a white cat with yellow claw gloves and an orange piglet with wings. The boy wore a green long-sleeve shirt with a yellow stripe on each arm and shorts. The girl wore a sleeveless pink and white shirt and yellow shorts while also having pink arm-length finger-less gloves.

"We will be arriving at Sunshine Airport very shortly," the pilot announced. "Please make sure all your belongings are with you as you depart from the jet. Also, during your time on Isle Delfino, the 15-year anniversary of Mario's liberation of King Bowser will have a celebration in the honor." The announcement shocked the blond.

"It's _that_ game?!" he shrieked. The brunette turned to the blond as did the creatures.

"TK?" they called back.

"Super Mario Sunshine… why that game?" To the brunette, the game brought back memories.

"Oh yeah!" she thought. "Mario and Princess Peach came to this island for vacation when the townsfolk accused Mario of graffiti throughout the island and cleaned the streets using that sprayer and stopped Bowser and Bowser, Jr." TK nodded to the brunette's description. Recalling the pilot's announcement, the piglet seemed upbeat.

"Relax, TK!" he squeaked. "At least we don't have to do that cleanup job like Mario, right?" TK nodded to the piglet's reasoning. From in the airport, those inside saw the jets coming in.

"How far into the future are we?!" gawked Edward. Others sighed to Edward's outburst. The jets landed and found different terminals to exit off.

"Awesome," Musica smiled. "Can't wait to see who else is here." The jets landed and everyone came out to the airport to retrieve their luggage. Three kids emerged with two brunettes and a raven-haired girl along with a flying yellow plush lion cub.

"Li, Madison," the brunette girl called. "Got your gear?" The brunette boy nodded, holding a sheath upward.

"Got mine, Sakura!" the raven-haired smiled as she lifted her luggage. The flying cub wanted to make sure Sakura had her equipment.

"Did you make sure the Clow Cards are on hand?" he asked. Sakura opened her luggage and a pouch. Inside were cards featuring creatures with names underneath. This also caught the attention of someone else.

"You collect cards, too?" a young man wondered. Sakura, Madison and Li turned to find three teenagers. The shortest had a wild crown like hairstyle with colors of black, red and blond. There was also a young blond man and a chestnut brunette girl visiting. Sakura nodded as she showed her deck to the wild-haired who saw through with the blond over his shoulder.

"Okay, those aren't the same cards we're used to, Yug," he pointed out as they saw several girls in revealing attire with names like "The WINDY," "The LIGHT" and "The POWER." Madison came to defend Sakura.

"What do you mean 'not the same'?" she asked. The wild-haired decided to show the others their reasoning.

"I got this, Joey," he waived before revealing his deck. On there were numerous creatures with some humans and dragons. One Madison whistled at was a man in a purple cloak holding a staff.

"I'd like to see Li dressed like this." Li snorted his face away. Sakura handed the deck back to the owner.

"Someone likes Dark Magician. Anyway, I'm Yugi Muto. He's Joey Wheeler and she's his sister, Serenity." To Sakura, they could learn from each one's decks.

"Nice to meet you," she welcomed. "I'm Sakura Avalon. She's Madison Taylor and he's Li Showron." Serenity came around to offer handshakes, which Sakura and Madison accepted.

"I'd like to know more about your deck, Sakura," Serenity wished.

"We'd love to." Meanwhile, TK and the other three waited for their bags to emerge when a mewing came around. To the girl, she thought it was her cat but she shook her head.

"I don't meow like that, Kari," she denied. Another mew turned heads to a brownish-gray furry bunny with yellow eyes and a gem on its forehead. Kari came over to meet the rabbit.

"Aren't you a cute little thing?" she cooed. The bunny mewed in pleasure which spooked TK and their animals.

"A bunny that meows like a cat?" he gulped.

"Thought you'd be used to this stuff by now," the piglet reminded. "After all, Gatomon and I turn to angels." That's when someone found the rabbit.

"Ryo-Ohki, don't run off like that!" sounded a pigtail blue-haired girl in a green robe. Behind her was a cyan-haired woman and a young dark brunette man with a tiny ponytail. This startled the first bunch. "I'm sorry. Ryo-Ohki is usually well behaved under my care." Kari didn't mind Ryo-Ohki's interest.

"It's alright," she smiled. "I find it weird for a bunny to meow like Miko back home."

"That's easy. Ryo-Ohki's a cabbit!" TK and Kari blinked to the name.

"A… cabbit?" That made Gatomon itch her head.

"You were saying, Patamon?" she mewed. The brunette came forward with an explanation.

"I happen to house aliens back home," he claimed. "I'm Tenchi Masaki. She's Sasami. That woman behind us… Ryoko." The cyan-haired waived her hand to greet.

"Hey!" she smiled. TK needed to introduce themselves.

"Nice to meet you all," he spoke up. "I'm Takeru Takeda, but you can call me TK. This is my Digimon partner, Patamon." The piglet flapped his wings to waive. It didn't click for Ryoko.

"Digimon?" Sasami grew interested with Patamon.

"Can I hold it?" she requested. Patamon flew down to Sasami who petted him. "I might wanna be careful. I could be holding you more than Ryo-Ohki."

"I'm not worried," Patamon giggled. Tenchi now turned to Kari still holding Ryo-Ohki in her arms.

"So you're TK's friend, right?" he asked.

"I am," Kari answered. "Kari Kamiya. TK and I helped the Digidestined with our Digimon, like Gatomon down here." Tenchi and Ryoko wondered if Gatomon could talk like Patamon.

"I'm not familiar with Digimon but you can talk as well, right?" she asked.

"If you can provide me fish, I'll provide some more detail," she offered. Tenchi and Ryoko blinked to the trade. Edward, Alphonse, Winry, Haru, Musica, Elie and Pete came down the hallway when they found a meeting between two people, shaping to go into mayhem. One was a white-haired young man in a red robe and ears protruding out of the top of his head. Behind him was a raven-haired teen girl in a school uniform with a green skirt and a tiny ponytail-redhead boy in a blue robe and vest. The white-haired faced a spiky strawberry blond teen. Behind him was a tall tanned brunette young man and a buxom redhead teen girl.

" **This is not good,"** Alphonse hushed. Unknowingly, energy emitted from the two.

' _What is this I'm sensing from this guy?'_ the white-haired cringed. _'It's certainly a lot from him… and I know it's not demonic energy.'_

' _I don't know what's more disturbing about this guy,'_ the strawberry blond thought. _'Those dog ears from his head or that spirit energy if that's what I'm detecting?'_ The stare-down continued until the redhead on the girl's shoulder had a solution.

"Kagome, you might wanna stop InuYasha before he wrecks the airport," he suggested. The raven-haired, Kagome, nodded.

"Sit, boy!" she shouted. A necklace around the white-haired's neck began to glow before a sudden pull yanked him to the ground, face-first. The sickening thud turned most of the people away. Kagome and the tanned man didn't budge.

"That had to hurt," Haru groaned. Realizing the one on the ground was InuYasha, everyone calmed down… but the one floored.

"Kagome, what was that for?!" he stammered. Kagome gave InuYasha a stare that scared even Edward.

"That look tells me she's not playing around," he shivered. Kagome regained her composure.

"We're on vacation with a lot of people!" she growled. "We're not here to draw blood on this island… You hear me?!" InuYasha growled back, not taking Kagome's backtalk. While the tension began to simmer, a mew caught Alphonse's attention. Looking down, he saw a small cream colored two-tailed kitten with red eyes.

" **Hey, there,"** he greeted as he hoisted the kitten. It mewed to Alphonse and Pete came over to pet. Kagome and the boy on her shoulder came to see the other group.

"Sorry about InuYasha," she apologized. "He can be aggressive when not necessary."

"That's alright," the strawberry blond shrugged off. "I didn't know what I was seeing when we met eye-to-eye. Ichigo Kurosaki." He offered his hand for a shake.

"Kagome Higurashi. The one on my shoulder is Shippo. He's a fox demon." This astounded the redhead as she reached to the shoulder and picked Shippo up, revealing a furry tail and paws for his hands and feet.

"A demon?" she awed. "But you're pretty adorable to be a demon."

"Well, I _am_ still a fox pup," Shippo clarified. "I've got time to grow." Alphonse came over to meet the rest, as well as Haru.

" **Aside from Homunculi, this is the first time I've met a demon up close,"** he awed. The kitten in Alphonse's arms begged Shippo to differ.

"No, Kilala's the first demon to come across." The boys and the redhead turned to see Kilala mewing.

"Won't you be warm in that suit of armor?" the tanned man asked. Haru stood forward to aid Ichigo's group.

"Already asked Al," he briefed. "He'll be fine. By the way, what about you?" Ichigo turned to his gang for introductions.

"They're classmates of mine," he started. "She's Orihime Inoue and that's Yasutora Sado, but you can call him Chad." Everyone met each other, even InuYasha after calming down. Down the hall, a brunette young man and a blond girl retrieved their bags… or so it seemed. The blond saw the tag on a bag she thought was hers. By her was a white rabbit wearing a red ascot.

"Negi Springfield?" she gawked. "Who the heck names their kid Negi?" Hearing the nagging, the brunette came to the blond's help carrying two suitcases.

"Miss Miya- I mean, Rebecca," he corrected. "I got ours!" Hearing the brunette, Rebecca checked the tags, one reading "REBECCA MIYAMOTO." She nodded to the tag.

"Good work, Shū. Now who's this Negi I-"

"Please, hold on!" cried a redhead boy in a green business suit and glasses. By him was a purple-haired teenage girl with her hair draping over her eyes and a white ermine. "That suitcase is mine, miss." Listening, the boy had an English accent. Rebecca handed the bag to the now identified Negi. "Thank you. I swore Nodoka's and my luggage would be down the conveyor belt from here." Rebecca wanted to know more from Mister Springfield.

"I've listened to a few British people while attending MIT." Negi jumped to the news of Rebecca's school.

"You attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge? Then that must mean…" To Rebecca, Negi also had college.

"You're a young teacher yourself?!"

"Yes! I attended a university in Wales." To Rebecca, she felt content in learning more about Negi,

"We may have some study sessions with everyone. Rebecca Miyamoto, teacher at Momotsuki Academy." She offered her hand to shake.

"Negi Springfield, teacher at Mahora Academy." Both agreed to a handshake. Down the conveyor belt, a blue-haired teen boy and a busty pink-haired teenage girl found three suitcases coming down their path. The girl had three dots on her forehead, shaped like a triangle.

"That must be ours, Yukinari!" she pointed out. Reaching, the blue-haired, Yukinari, spotted a problem.

"Miharu, we only had two cases, not three," he corrected. Miharu blinked before Yukinari checked the tags, one catching his eyes. "Who the heck is Kazuki?" An answer came from behind.

"Those are _our_ bags!" shouted another brunette young man. Surprisingly, he also had a pink-haired girl along, slightly taller than Miharu. "Sorry, we thought our bags came through our gate."

"Hey, no problem! Here you go!"

"Thanks… and sorry for the mess. I'm Kazuki Shikimori."

"And I'm Yuna, his wife," she claimed. Yukinari and Miharu gawked to the news.

"So, is this your honeymoon?" asked Miharu. Kazuki freaked at the claim.

"Technically, we're not married yet!" he denied. Yukinari wanted to believe Kazuki and found proof… or lack thereof.

"I was gonna say," he spoke up. "I don't see a ring on any finger." Yuna protested about their marital status.

"We're not yet, yes!" she admitted. "But I'm still the one truly loves him!" As she proclaimed her love to Kazuki, Miharu found a tag on a suitcase reading "KURIKO KAZETSUBAKI."

"Who's this one?" Kazuki came over to see the case.

"Oh, Kuriko?" he read. "She's the one who got the tickets here." Yuna heard Kazuki and looked around.

"Speaking of whom," she realized. "Where's she?" Turning heads, the four saw nothing. Meanwhile, a buxom blond in a maroon sleeveless business suit with stiletto heels. She viewed a brochure as she walked down the hall.

"Coconut Mall sounds like a great place to find something for Kazuki," she snickered. "Perhaps time at Gelato Beach with him could have Yuna looking for someone else. I bet someone would work better for her." As she scanned through the brochure…

"Here it is, Pikachu!" a young man announced. The blond looked up to find a raven-haired boy in a sleeveless blue sweat-tee over a black t-shirt and jeans. On his shoulder was a yellow mouse with a lightning bolt for a tail. The blond glared at the raven-haired and the mouse while he turned to the side.

"You got your gear?" asked a younger raven-haired boy. He wore a green polo t-shirt and glasses. By him was a brunette girl in a red bandanna and shirt with tight black shorts.

"Right here, Max." The mouse squeaked to confirm. As he regrouped with the others, the blond gawked at the boy. She dropped the brochure as her mind and heart raced.

' _What?'_ she minded. _'What is this aching in my heart? He's younger than Kazuki… but why am I feeling this? Could it be what Yuna told me about when we all met around Kazuki?'_ Suddenly, a ghost appeared, looking like a young girl with lilac hair and wearing a maroon night gown.

" _Kuriko?"_ she called. _"Kuriko!"_ The ghost couldn't make contact as she started heeling toward the boy with the mouse. _"Where are you going?"_ Seeing who Kuriko began to tail, it worried the ghost. " _This isn't right at all! I gotta get to Kazuki!"_ Quickly, she flew and found the four as Yukinari and Miharu finally retrieved their bags.

"Wondered what took so long," Yukinari sighed. Finding Kazuki, the ghost alerted.

" _Kazuki!"_ The sound of the ghost echoed, the four turned to find the ghost flying. Yukinari screeched in fear.

"A ghost!" he screamed. Miharu came to his aid.

"Don't worry," Kazuki assured. "Elizabeth's one of us!" Yuna feared Elizabeth's sight.

"What's wrong, Elizabeth?" she questioned.

" _It's Kuriko,"_ she cried out. _"She's chasing some boy with a yellow mouse!"_ Kazuki and Yuna glanced to each other.

"Is this true?" wondered Miharu. Down the hall from where Kuriko saw the boy, a raven-haired young man was with a blond teenage girl wearing long pigtails from balls in her hair. By her was a pink-haired little girl with pigtails from what looked like spindles. Waiting on the wing was a black cat with a moon crescent marking on its forehead.

"Here it comes, Rini," the blond announced. Three suitcases emerged along with a ball with the head like the cat. Max and the brunette came around when the blond snagged the ball and gave it to Rini.

"Thanks, Serena," she praised. "Let me get my suitcase before I hold my Luna Ball." As Serena put the ball back, she grabbed a small piece of luggage but her swing batted the Luna Ball away. "Oh no!" Rini watched the Luna Ball sail but it fell into Max's hands and he caught the sphere. Serena gasped to the error.

"Sorry!" Max glanced to the ball, giggling to the face on it.

"Better than Meowth as the face," the brunette joked. Max wanted to do the right thing: return the ball to Rini.

"I got this, May," he huffed as he stepped to return the Luna Ball. Rini watched the boy come up to return the knocked item. "I believe this is yours?" Barely registering, Rini awed Max's polite behavior. The elder raven-haired acknowledged Max's will to return the loose item as the young man and mouse watched… or at least the young man. The mouse dashed to Max's side, past Max.

"Thanks a lot, little guy," the elder smiled.

"Aw, don't mention it." The mouse crawled up Max's head to get a view of the three. Max felt it. "Guess you wanted to see them as well, huh Pikachu?" The mouse squeaked in confirmation.

"That's a cute mouse you have," Serena complimented as she petted Pikachu between the ears.

"Max, let's go!" urged May. Max turned and nodded to May.

"I'll see you later," he said to Rini before journeying to May.

"Now that was a nice young man," the elder nodded.

"I agree, Darrien," Serena bobbed. "Don't you think so, Rini?" The young girl didn't react. Max caught her eyes and her focus seemed lost.

"I… I think… love..." she stuttered. Serena and Darrien blinked to the shivering response. Of course, this gave Serena a ploy to tease.

"Oh… are you falling for that boy?" Rini snapped out of the delusion and turned to Serena.

"What!" A sneering Serena grew more willing to mock the sight.

"He was nice returning your Luna Ball. Maybe you see him as a boyfriend at your age." Rini's face bled red in embarrassment.

"Th- That's not-"

"Maybe he could be worth your… MAX-imum attention..." Embarrassed enough, Rini snapped.

"Serena, you bully!" Serena snickered while the boy watched the scene with some laughs.

"At least I can say it since Brock's not around," he sighed. "He could be learning some lessons from Max when it comes to girls." Unknowingly, Kuriko had sneaked behind the boy and found her time to strike. She wrapped her arms around him.

"Well, maybe you can teach me somethings about you," she cooed. "Like maybe your name, first." Coiled, the young man surrendered as Pikachu stopped in front of the two. It looked on, rather confused.

"It's… Ash Ketchum." Kuriko inched her head closer to Ash's head.

"Ketchum, huh? Well, you've certainly caught my heart." Ash felt more uneasy about Kuriko as Elizabeth pointed the four to their missing blond.

"Don't you think I'm a little young for you?"

"Not really. After all, Ash, age is but a number." Yuna had to act and break the hold.

"There are _limits_ , Kuriko!" she growled as she snagged Kuriko's earlobe. The pain from the pinch released her hold.

"Ow! Yuna! That hurts! My ear!" Yuna dragged Kuriko away from Ash as the other three approached him.

"Talk about out of character for her," Kazuki shrugged. "Why did she come after you?" Ash shrugged his shoulders, not sure about it.

"You got me," he blinked.

"Will you be okay?" asked Miharu. Ash fluffed a nod. May and Max traveled to find the exit with bus passes on hand when something came out of May's fanny-pack: a small pink kitten with a cream underbelly. It mewed before running off, panicking May.

"Skitty, what are you doing?" she gasped while chasing the kitten. This left Max alone as a brunette girl emerged from the bathroom and eyed who May left. A smile painted her face.

' _I finally have my moment with you, Conan!'_ she minded as she stepped to Max silently. Suddenly, she kissed him on the cheek as Serena, Darrien and Rini came walking from behind. When Max felt the kiss, he turned and their eyes met. The brunette girl saw Max, realizing this wasn't the boy she wanted to smooch and freaked out. A loud scream alerted a brunette young woman and a dark brunette boy who were near the gift shop. The brunette had hair to her shoulders while the boy had glasses on and a bow-tie.

"Amy!" the boy figured out. The two dashed out to see the occasion and found the girl crying in hysteria while Max looked on befuddled to the event around him. Rini cringed after the girl kissed him and now wondered if Max was after her instead of herself. The boy and the elder brunette came to see her condition.

"Amy, what's wrong?" the elder asked. The boy faced Max, thinking he hurt Amy.

"What did you do to Amy?" he demanded an answer.

"Nothing!" proclaimed Max. "My sister ran off somewhere and suddenly..."

"That's not Conan!" cried Amy. "That's not Conan!" They now knew Amy kissed Max out of mistaken identity. The three relented the boy came to Amy's aid.

"I'm here, Amy," he tried to ease. Amy started to calm down.

"Conan?" The boy nodded to his name.

"You caused quite a ruckus. Everything's okay now." Rini also breathed a sigh of relief, knowing Amy kissed the wrong person. Standing, Amy tried to regain her composure as Max came to check on her.

"That was the wildest first kiss I've been involved in," Max gulped.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I thought you were Conan." Max nodded in understanding.

"No big deal. We can still be friends for the two weeks, right?" Amy nodded to the assessment.

"I appreciate that you wanted to make sure she'd be okay," the elder praised. "I'm Rachel Moore. Of course, the one Amy wanted to kiss is him: Conan Edogawa." Conan bobbed to Max. May raced back with Skitty and Alphonse when they heard the scream.

"Max, what happened?" gasped May, out of breath.

"Just a misunderstanding, sis," Max clarified before turning to Alphonse. "Don't tell me you made friends with inanimate objects." Alphonse glanced down, scaring Max and Amy. "It's alive!?" Alphonse snickered to the fright.

" **It might take me longer for them to understand my dilemma,"** he sighed. To Rachel, the two weeks weren't going to be ordinary.

"We're in for some fun, alright," she muttered. Looking at the clock, Rachel had a request. "Say, is it alright if I take your brother for some ice cream after the kerfuffle." May chuckled to the request.

"Sure, we got time," she agreed. Granted, Rachel led the young ones to an ice cream shoppe she and Conan passed after Amy's cry. Half an hour later, everyone visiting the island stepped out with Pete leading. That's when a bus shaped like a green caterpillar with a smiling face and blue wheels stopped in front of the airport. Diego drove the bus.

"Wiggler bus is running," he reported.

"Got it, Degs!" replied Pete. Everyone started to board the bus… and two weeks of fun on Isle Delfino.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Desserting Such a Welcome

Chapter 2: Desserting Such a Welcome

* * *

The Wiggler bus rolled toward the hotel with the vacationers on board. More of the vacationers got to meet and talk with each other like Elie and Sasami. Kazuki, Yuna and Kuriko sat beside Ash and May while Max sat by Rini as she joined Serena and Darrien. TK and Kari sat across from Pete who had Den on his lap which the blonds engaged in conversation. "You know, as we're landing at Sunshine Airport, the pilot said there's a 15-year anniversary celebrated during our vacation," he brought up. "Can you provide us any detail?" Pete offered a nod, willing to converse.

"As you said, it's been 15 years since Mario climbed Corona Mountain to save Princess Peach from Bowser and his son," he referred. "Since then, the pollution is all cleaned up and more people, the Piantas, Nokis, even Toads have declared residence. You'll see some of the improvements to the island like on Blanco Hills, Gelato Beach, Pinna Park… Not to mention where you're gonna be staying near a different beach." TK nodded, somewhat anxious to see the improvements to Isle Delfino.

"You know, seeing you with Winry's dog on your lap is adorable," Kari pointed out. "Are you a dog lover?" Pete petted Den while trying to explain the issue.

"I'm not sure 'Dog Lover" works. It's more of the other way around." Alphonse glanced up at hearing Pete's explanation.

" **Are you saying that you don't like dogs like Den or Plue?"** he asked.

"Not like that, per say. I'm more of a snake lover." Having seen the mouse, Serena snagged Pikachu from Ash.

"Aren't you just the cutest little mouse to be here, Pikachu," she cooed. "Rini and I could have you snuggle between us during the two weeks." Pikachu seemed worried about the idea. Without another thought, Serena gave Pikachu an enormous hug, squeezing the air out of the mouse, panicking Ash.

"Not so hard!" he warned. "Stop!" Before Ash could wrestle his mouse from Serena, Pikachu emitted electricity and shocked both. Darrien tucked Rini to avoid electrocution. "Pikachu, stop!" Ash and Serena blindly released Pikachu who flew in the air to the back of the bus. He fell into Serenity's lap, sitting between Yugi and Joey.

"Gotcha!" she called. Pikachu realized someone else held him and looked up. "Are you okay?" Pikachu squeaked in relief. "Thank goodness." Viewing Pikachu, Serenity hugged him a little gentler than Serena. "Oh, you're so adorable! I want to sleep with you for a night." Yugi and Joey wondered about Serenity's interest with Pikachu.

"Sis, slow down a few rotations!" urged Joey. "You may need to ask its owner, first." Yugi judged the distance Pikachu flew from.

"That mouse's owner must be near the middle of the bus," he surveyed. Pikachu squeaked to confirm. Joey decided to look out for Pikachu's master.

"So somewhere up there, Yug?" When Joey spotted Kuriko talking to Nodoka, he freaked out. "Mai?! What's she doing here?!" Yugi, Serenity and Pikachu blinked to Joey's outburst.

"Who?"

"Right there! She's not wearing makeup, but that's Mai right there!" All three looked to find Kuriko before clarifying.

"Joey, that's not Mai," Serenity corrected. "Yugi and I met Kuriko Kazetsubaki, as well as Kazuki Shikimori and Yuna Miyama." Joey gawked to the information.

"So, you're saying that's not Mai?" Even Pikachu squeaked to clarify for Joey.

"You know, I think Mai would've been a smarter idea than to have me around if you're that paranoid about her," Yugi muttered. Serenity believed Yugi's words were a little harsh.

"Don't be like that, Yugi!" she urged. "All Joey needs to do is meet everyone and get acquainted. Wouldn't you think so?" Pikachu agreed with more squeaks. Diego soon got on a microphone for an announcement. He found a large complex on top of a hill guided by a pathway up.

"Ladies, gentlemen and creatures," he began. "We'll be arriving at Sirena Beach momentarily so make sure you have all of your gatherings as Hotel Delfino will be your final stop for the day." Everyone grew anxious to their new living quarters for the two weeks. The Wiggler bus came to a stop in front of the large complex. Everyone stepped off, including the animals like Ryo-Ohki and Den. Diego stepped out last. "Well, guys… Here's the hotel where we'll have you for the two weeks: Hotel Delfino."

"Fun fact: this is where Mario and Princess Peach stayed after Mario's vanquishing of Bowser," Pete added. "And while it's not open yet, there's a casino inside." Joey, Elie and Ryoko instantly became excited about the casino.

"A casino?!" squealed Elie. "Really?"

"Are there card games to wager on?!" asked Joey.

"Take me to your roulette table!" urged Ryoko. Pete and Diego shuttered to bringing it up.

"It'll be up in a couple of days!" tried Diego. Some of the vacationers awed the extra detail.

"Suddenly, I'm actually glad to come here and be part of this," Shippo giggled. "Sango and Miroku will be so jealous!" That's when they sensed newcomers to find Piantas, Toads and the shell creatures.

"Are they the locals?" asked Orihime.

"They are," Diego responded. "The big ones in the grass skirts and palm tree-like hair are Piantas. The ones in the conch shells are Nokis and the ones with the mushroom caps are Toads." The Piantas and Toads welcomed the vacationers while the Nokis met with the creatures.

"Talk about a warm welcome," Rachel chuckled. "Certainly a great break from all those murders and crime back home. I know Jimmy would rather stay than come to a vacation spot like here." Sasami heard Rachel's past, wondering about the ordeal.

"Who's Jimmy?" she asked. Amy answered for Rachel.

"Jimmy Kudo's suppose to be Rachel's boyfriend," she replied. Rachel's face quickly turned red. "They're in high school together, and he and her dad are detectives. Conan and I'm part of the junior detective squad with Mitch and George." Sasami awed the history while Conan became as red as Rachel. That's when Max saw a Ferris Wheel in the distance.

"Hey, what's that?" he pointed out. All spotted the indigo Ferris Wheel with arms like octopus tentacles.

"That's the Ferris Wheel at Pinna Park," Pete identified. "Degs, why don't you-" He turned to find Diego petting Den and Plue with Winry's dog climbing onto him.

"Who's a good girl?" he teased while scratching Den's ears. "Yeah, who's a good girl?" This made Pete groan.

"Degs..." Edward sighed to the attention Den received.

"As much as I wanna take Pete's word," he muttered. "I have a feeling Den would want to stay with either one of the two." Pete surrendered where a Noki patted him in the back. Pikachu squeaked to Serenity and pointed to Ash which she spotted.

"So that's your owner, right?" she asked. Pikachu squeaked to confirm her guess. Yugi stayed close as they walked to Ash and May. The two turned and found Pikachu who then jumped onto Ash's shoulder.

"There you are, Pikachu!" he greeted. Pikachu greeted his owner before turning back to Serenity. "Sorry about that before."

"Oh, don't worry. As long as you two were back, that's all that matters." Leaning to Pikachu. "So, that's your name? Pikachu?" The mouse squeaked to confirm.

"Do you have more or is Pikachu the only pet you brought along?" asked Yugi.

"We have more, but you'll see them later tonight during the dinner," May answered. Serenity couldn't wait. Pete stood back up and faced the vacationers.

"You'll see Pinna Park during your stay," he advised. "Emma's inside, she'll give you the keys to your room." The vacationers entered to meet a young brunette with a tattoo showing an intertwining "SF."

"Welcome, vacationers," she greeted. "Form a line and we'll get your keys." Each one gathered and received card keys. "Don't forget to fill out tonight's dinner. Have it submitted by 3:00. We'll have dinner at 6:00." Each one nodded before going to their rooms. Each room had three beds, even though some only came as a pair like TK and Kari, Rebecca and Shū and Yukinari and Miharu. Each filled their part of their dinner except for Alphonse. Edward and Winry argued to their meals.

"Don't put milk in my order!" he snapped.

"You _will_ drink it, Ed!" she replied. "It's milk! It will do you some good!"

"I'm not drinking vomit!" Another voice decided to urge Edward to have milk.

"It's best for you to have that milk, young man," a woman's voice echoed. To Edward, he believed it was his brother.

"Al, I don't need you to help Winry!" That's when both stopped, looked at each other before turning to Alphonse.

"Okay, I know Al doesn't sound like that," Winry gulped. Walking over, she opened Alphonse's breastplate and unveiled a black cat with red eyes and a crescent moon on its forehead. Edward and Winry felt that Alphonse picked up another cat like May's Skitty and Kilala.

"I know I merged Al's soul to this armor, but I don't think different cats would alter his voice." The cat had a reply.

"Perhaps listening to a guardian would help!" she snapped, freaking those inside.

"You can talk?!" gawked Edward and Winry. The cat leaped out of Alphonse's suit and hopped to the menu.

"There's also chocolate milk, if that can help disguise the taste you dislike." Winry seemed interested with the cat's idea.

"You can't disguise anything!" snapped Edward. The cat groaned to Edward's refusal. "I'm gonna have water." The cat sighed as she returned to Alphonse.

" **Sorry, Luna,"** Alphonse apologized. **"When Ed sets his mind on something, only a miracle could change that."** That's when a knock came on the door. Edward opened to find Diego returning Den to the return.

"Thought I bring her back," he offered. "I'm a bigger dog lover than Pete is, despite her in his lap." Winry chuckled before she and Edward switched.

"I think we can trust you with Den if need be," he shot a nod. "Anyway, you need this?" Diego nodded and accepted the menu handed. Diego left Edward, Alphonse and Winry alone. In a dining hall, everyone gathered to enjoy dinner with their orders from before. InuYasha and Ichigo had another stare-down while others made their ways to seating down at places with their names in front. This helped everyone know the names of those visiting. Haru came to InuYasha and Ichigo.

"Hey, cool it, you two!" he urged while palming both shoulders. "We want a peaceful dinner as a group. If you want to know each other, do so respectfully."

"Don't worry, Haru," InuYasha assured. "I want to know what I'm sensing from this guy."

"Likewise, InuYasha," Ichigo agreed. "I can tell, you're no ordinary demon."

"A little clarification, Ichigo… I'm a half-demon." Ichigo lifted an eyebrow in interest while Haru gulped.

"Half-demon?" he repeated. "As in a demon dad and a human mom?"

"Yep, and you can tell that my father was a dog demon." Ichigo seemed more angst to settle a spar with InuYasha.

"Nice," he grinned. "Will that stand up to a substitute Soul Reaper?" Haru gulped to the information from Ichigo. InuYasha grinned back.

"I suppose we'll find out. Maybe not tonight but sometime down the road." InuYasha joined his group while Ichigo smirked back.

"We'll find out, indeed." While everyone gathered, Ash and May released more creatures from red/white balls. Out came Skitty, a coal-shell turtle, a red crayfish with big pincers, a wood gecko with a whip-like vine as its hair, a black swallow, a yellow hybrid of human and chicken with feathers shaped like a crown, a small four-legged blue creature with a green bulb on its back, a black butterfly with yellow wings and a teal creature with fur covering its hands and lower body. Kari and Sasami came over to see the creatures with Gatomon and Ryo-Ohki to meet them.

"These are more of your Pokémon?" asked Kari.

"You bet!" answered May. "I have Combusken…" The hybrid clucked to identify itself. "Skitty… Beautifly…" The butterfly with a long nose cooed. "Bulbasaur…" The creature with the bulb growled happily. "And Munchlax!" The teal creature garbled.

"Mine aside from Pikachu are Grovyle," Ash added while the gecko nodded while fitting a twig to its mouth. "Swellow…" The swallow cawed. "Torkoal…" The turtle groaned. "And Corphish." The crayfish waived its arms.

"Does Max have a Pokémon?" questioned Sasami.

"Unfortunately, he's still young to have a Pokémon yet," May shrugged. "In about two years, he'll have one." Other creatures came to see the Pokémon, including Plue and Rebecca's rabbit. That's when a tanned, bleach blond young man came in.

"Okay, everyone take a seat!" he announced. "The Piantas will bring out the food for everyone." The Piantas came out with trays covered in dome lids. The names were on each lid, making it easy for the food to be established. Each one had their food and drink which varied from water to coffee to soda. At least none were alcoholic. Pete and Emma joined the rest on stage.

"Everyone having a nice time?" asked Pete. Everyone cheered to the question. "Okay. I'm Pete as you already know by now. This young woman is Emma and he's Neo. We welcome you to Isle Delfino, or here in Hotel Delfino. We want everyone to have a great time during the two weeks."

"We'll have days where we will bring all of you to like Coconut Mall and Pinna Park as you have seen," Emma added.

"Not to mention what we have in store since everyone's eaten," Neo assumed. That's when Diego came through doors with a tray of cakes and coated in cake batter. There was a plain white, chocolate, marble, lemon and red velvet. Seeing Ryo-Ohki and Gatomon, Diego seemed nervous. Chad saw Diego's reaction.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I'm allergic to cats, if that helps," he muttered. Gatomon jumped onto the table to clarify.

"I doubt most of us will be a problem," she mewed. "I'm a Digimon so my fur wouldn't trigger it. Same could be said with Kilala being a demon and Ryo-Ohki as a cabbit." Nodding, Diego calmed down and handed slices of cake to everyone who ate.

"That's good to know. Anywho, enjoy!" Each one ate their slices. A chorus of hums gave Diego satisfaction… until he eyed May and Serena with their eyes watering.

' _This cake is so delicious!'_ thought May. _'I think I'm losing my senses and seeing him in all that batter… I want more out of him!'_

' _Oh, Mom can't make a cake like this!'_ compared Serena. _'No… none of the cake shoppes bring this out more! And seeing him in that cake batter is making me hungry for more!'_ May and Serena turned to Diego who sensed trouble. They stood and strutted toward him.

"May, what's going on?" wondered Max.

"Serena, what are you doing?" pleaded Rini. Diego stumbled a little before May and Serena tackled him. The girls licked his batter face, tasting the frosting and batter.

"Diego, could you make more for me?" an eager May wished loudly.

"Me, too!" shouted Serena. "We won't stop until you agree!" They licked and kissed Diego to no end while everyone watched in confusion… but Max chose to help Diego. Grabbing the ears of both girls, he pinched to release the hold they had.

"The only batter you'll be getting is this," he growled as he pulled both away, the two complaining. Rini awed Max's strength while Darrien huffed a chuckle.

"Talk about just desserts for us," he joked. The rest of the dinner played out without a hitch and everyone departed for the rooms, May and Serena still feeling pain. Pete checked in on Diego after the girls gave him that feast on his face.

"You gonna be alright, Degs?" he asked before sipping on a latte.

"Just a face wash and I'm good," he reassured. "By the way, I'm heading back to the kitchen for some pastry making."

"After all that?"

"Hey, no one will interfere, especially what I've got in mind before they leave." Pete wanted to trust Diego on his word.

"Well, if you need help..." The moon rested over the island. Tomorrow will begin the tour of Isle Delfino.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. PlazaPalooza

_Chapter 3: PlazaPalooza_

* * *

As the sun rose on Isle Delfino, one room had some noise. Kurkio muttered in her sleep. "Ash!" she moaned. "Stay with me… You're the one I want… Kazuki's dead… I want to be here…" Her muttering while asleep and constant rolling in bed woke Kazuki and Yuna just as the sun began to peek in their room.

"She's been like this through the night?" asked Yuna.

"Yeah, and most of it may have been seeing Ash at the airport," Kazuki pointed out. "I don't really know what Kuriko saw with him but… didn't you say Ash's too young for Kuriko?" Yuna nodded to the claim.

"I shouldn't necessarily be upset over this but still… It's Kuriko! She's been one of us since Doctor Akai mentioned you having that lineage… not that I care about it." As the morning rose, some of the vacationers reached the dining hall where they had that dinner with everyone. On a large tray on the main table were fried turnovers with edges crimped. Ash came to pick one up while Joey, Rachel, Tenchi, Kari, Edward and Shū saw the turnovers. By the tray were a variety of drinks from coffee to milk to orange juice.

"What do we have there?" asked Joey. "Not breakfast I'd consider."

"Yeah, these are more like snacks than something for the morning," Rachel believed. Shū came to see the turnovers and sniffed them. He broke one in half, finding cream cheese inside the baked thin crust as Conan and Serena entered.

"I see now!" he realized. "These are pastelitos!" Everyone blinked to the name of the turnovers.

"Pastel… what?" stumbled Tenchi. Shū nodded to offering information.

"They're Cuban pastries. It's common in places like Florida. They're filled with cream cheese, guava, pineapple…" The pastelito in hand, Ash bit into it, tasting guava.

"This is good!" he judged while chewing on the pastry. Everyone took a pastelito each with different fillings.

"Ash's right," Kari agreed. "But I wonder who made it?" Studying the pastelitos, Conan had an educated guess.

"I believe it's Diego," he replied. Listening, Serena awed the one who made the pastelitos being the one who gave everyone dessert last night.

"Really?" she wondered. "You're saying Diego's Cuban?" The subject of the matter walked in with a cup of iced coffee to shed some light to the subject.

"American, actually," he corrected. "I take up residence in Florida, but my family roots do come from Guatemala." Taking a sip, Diego refocused on an item he wanted to bring up. "Anyway, Pete refueled the Wiggler Bus so I can take you to Delfino Plaza today." Hearing about their new destination, everyone wanted to go and see the plaza. When the rest of the people woke, they stacked the bus and headed to the plaza. On the bus, May allowed Madison to hold Bulbasaur.

"So, there are Pokémon like this in your world?" questioned Madison with glee. "I mean, Pikachu's cute but…" May laughed, not making a big deal.

"Well, as my dad said, there's a favorite Pokémon for everyone," she referred. Soon enough, the bus stopped at the entrance of the plaza. Diego allowed everyone off to see the plaza firsthand.

"Here we are: Delfino Plaza," he announced. About everyone awed the sight of the plaza, including marble statues of a mustached man in overalls and a plumber's hat and a woman with long hair wearing a crown and dress.

"So that must be Mario and Princess Peach," thought Nodoka. Diego came to see the statues as well.

"Those are. Mario has been protecting the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser and others like the Smithy Gang and X-Nauts." Chad looked up to a pair of towering sculptures in the back holding a golden sun with a crown-like top.

"It could be me but isn't that the same decoration as the airport?" he spoke up. Hearing the tanned teenager, they all saw the sculptures as well.

"Hey, you're right, Chad!" gulped Yugi. Diego heard the two and came to see the gawking pair.

"You referring to the Shine Gate?" he asked. "Or what's up there?" Chad pointed to the sun figure.

"Up near the top! That sun was on the Sunshine Airport sign!" Diego saw the figure and nodded.

"That's a hanging statue of a Shine Sprite." Everyone turned to Diego for a better explanation.

" **Shine Sprite?"** repeated Alphonse.

"Believe it. Shine Sprites are entities that protect the island and give the residence comfort as they… shine to ward off any darkness." As they walked through the plaza, more Piantas appeared, some wearing brown grass skirts and coconut bikinis and blouses. They also observed more Nokis frolicking about, making some of the vacationers question.

"So, Piantas have both genders, I see," Elie pointed out. "But what's with the palm trees on their heads? It just looks so… weird." Diego would beg to differ.

"Not really. The trees actually provide relief from the heat the sun scorches on them." The information allowed Max to connect Diego's dots.

"I get it!" he figured out. "Shade! That way, the heat is blocked by their leaves so the sun or the UV rays don't affect them." Even Conan and Ichigo awed Max's calculation.

' _And I thought I'd be the one to answer that,'_ Ichigo minded while Rini awed Max's intelligence.

' _Nice guess, Max,'_ nodded a voice within Conan. Diego had more to offer.

"Same could be said about the Nokis, hiding in their shells," Diego added. As they continued on through the plaza, a purple Pianta woman lined up some smoothies and saw the vacationers.

"Hey, everyone!" she greeted while carrying the tray. "How's Isle Delfino going for you?" All answered positively to the asking. "That's wonderful. I figured on a day like this, I could give each one a smoothie. How about it?" The kids gone first and tried the smoothies.

"Hey, this is really good!" awed Sasami.

"So, this is a smoothie?" wondered Shippo. "This would be something Ed can get behind." Edward came to the Pianta who had a cup for him as well.

"Homegrown?" he guessed.

"Indeed. The fruits here are ripe and blend well to create coolant-style smoothies, especially with how hot it gets on the island." Edward took a sip of the smoothie, the taste of pineapple and strawberry started to seep in his stomach. That's when he tasted something that he didn't want to have.

"Is there… milk in this?"

"Coconut milk, indeed." The extra word made Edward blink, as well as Winry, Alphonse and InuYasha.

"Milk, from coconuts, not milked from cows?" guessed Winry.

"But of course… though I've never had milk from a cow before." Edward drank some more of the smoothie.

"It's definitely better than that vomit I drink back home," he compared. Ash sighed to Edward's weight on the topic.

"So much for asking him to try Miltank Milk," he suggested. Pikachu mulled as well to Edward's complaint to which Kagome had a guess about the blond.

"Ed, are you admitting to being lactose intolerant?" she questioned. Edward blinked, befuddled to the naming.

"Lactose… intolerant?" he repeated.

"Basically, your body cannot handle milk-based products like yogurt or cheese," Rebecca educated. To Winry, it wasn't the case.

"Nah, Edward's a baby when it comes to milk," she teased. Edward's face told everyone to stop the mocking.

"Shut up!" he snapped. Alphonse snickered before eyeing small dinosaurs with smooth bodies and boots on their legs while having human-like arms.

" **Diego, what are those over there?"** he asked. Diego spun to turn and find the dinosaurs who also have what seemed to be saddles.

"Those are Yoshis, and they've been around this world for a long time," he named. "Yoshi can eat a lot of fruit and almost anything Bowser has thrown at Mario. You can also ride them." Everyone rushed over to see the Yoshis… except for Kazuki and Yuna who yawned and looked drained. Musica saw the two and reached to make sure they could move.

"You guys engaged in roughhousing last night?" he asked.

"No, we hardly slept from Kuriko's talking in her sleep about Ash," Yuna clarified.

"We're still trying to figure out why she's going after the kid and not me," Kazuki shrugged. "Not that we mind the latter but still…" Musica nodded to the problem they faced.

"Give it some time," he advised. "I'm sure everything will work out before long." The kids boarded the Yoshis who wanted to show them around. Chad and Alphonse helped Amy, Max and Sasami onto a Yoshi each. Madison whipped out a video camera and recorded the plaza, as well as some of the Yoshis and who rode them. While the Yoshis gave their new friends a ride, Ash journeyed to find an ice rink with plenty of Nokis and Toads skating on it.

"A nice place to beat the heat and have fun," he viewed. "I mean, aside from the beach, of course. Maybe during a day where Diego or anyone else isn't taking us to a different location, I could come back here and try skating myself." Seeing Ash, Kari and Gatomon came by to check on him.

"Thought you'd have Pikachu by your side," Kari assumed. Ash turned to the brunette girl and cat.

"Pikachu wanted to be around Serenity and I trusted him. After all, she took care of him after Serena and I got a shock from how she squeezed him." Kari nodded, trusting his word. More came to her, however.

"I'm kinda worried about you and I got it from TK. Kuriko seemed to have gone from her group and wanted to have you for some reason." Ash knew about the ordeal.

"Right, I told her that she's a little old for me, but I think there's something bothering her." Kari and Gatomon weren't sure about the briefing.

"How so?" the cat asked. Ash stood up straight and recomposed himself.

"I don't know. I wanted to ask Kazuki about it but… I guess I was still a little shaken by the approach." Kari giggled to the response.

"I guess I'd be the same way if… say Chad or Tenchi did that to me," she joked. Ash softly laughed, thinking how ridiculous that would be. "Well, they'd be better than Davis. That's for sure." That's when a white slip of paper flew to and stuck on Ash's back. He felt the sticking.

"Was that Pikachu with something?" Looking to his back, Karo and Gatomon didn't see anything.

"No…" they replied. Out of nowhere but a puff of smoke, Kuriko appeared. She leaned onto Ash's back while wrapping her arms around his body.

"Hey there, my little bottle of Ketchum," she flirted. "Wanna have a tandem on a Yoshi? It'll be fun…" Ash became nervous in an instant.

"Hey, not so rough!" warned Kari. "I know you like him…!"

"Don't get your shorts tightened around me… Besides, what about the Teaker? Aren't you two seeing each other?" Kari jumped in nervous shock.

"Shots fired…" mumbled Gatomon. The statue of Shine Gate began to light up.

"TK and I are just friends!" stammered Kari. "We're not going out!" Kuriko sneered to Kari's quip.

"My, aren't we acting defensive…" That's when a flash lit the area from the Shine Gate. All covered their eyes for the moment. After the shine, all looked up.

"What the hell are those?!" screeched InuYasha. To Yukinari, the answer came from something they've seen.

"Diego, those Shine Sprites?" he asked.

"What do you know~!" laughed Diego as Kari whipped out a camera. "They are! The Shine Sprites, and it looks like all 120 are here!" Everyone had their cameras out and took pictures of the golden sprites blinking down to them. Many of the sprites posed for pictures with the vacationers and Diego.

"Pikachu, how lucky are we?" chuckled Serenity while a sprite allowed itself to be held. Pikachu palmed the sprite which shined. Yuna and Kazuki awed the sprite.

"They're adorable!" she squealed as one came to the two. It shined for the two who started to glow. After a little time shining with the sprite, both felt re-energized. They began to laugh and move like they had a full-night sleep. "Thank you!" The sprite twinkled before joining the rest. Kari snapped photos of the sprites.

"Everyone and their Digimon will want to come here now!" she joked. That's when several surrounded the three humans and Gatomon. They danced around before regrouping with the rest. After their time to show themselves, the sprites flew upward and away.

"So those were Shine Sprites," Kuriko awed.

"Talk about lucky to have seen them," Gatomon mewed.

"Let alone meet them," Ash finished. "But why did the three of us get a lot of them?" The vacationers recovered and spent the rest of the day awing the landscape as the sun began to set.

"Okay, people!" called Diego. "Let's head back to the hotel!" May wondered about food heading back.

"Why?" she wondered. "You got another dessert you wanna give us?" Diego scoffed to May's wonder.

"Nope, though I am making something real special for the last day. I won't say what it is." Serena also wanted in on Diego's secret dessert.

"Oh, tell us!" she yelped. "Tell us!"

"Nope. You'll need to wait until the last night." May and Serena groaned to Diego's untold dessert. Regardless, everyone gathered in the bus. Back at Hotel Delfino, Ichigo and InuYashaeyed the beach at the bottom of the hill.

"You want to do it, tomorrow?" asked the half-demon. Ichigo eyed the beach and sensed InuYasha's request.

"You and me to see who's stronger?" he pondered. "It can settle our nerves about each other. I can't wait to see you face-down on the sand." Both grinned to each other.

"You first." Haru saw the stare-down, a battle brewing soon. The night settled but tension built between InuYasha and Ichigo Kurosaki. What else could happen tomorrow?

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	4. Swords in the Sands

_Chapter 4: Swords in the Sands_

* * *

The sun started to ascend and Hotel Delfino caught the early rays. No one knew of the battle set by Ichigo and InuYasha. As the two woke to face the day, let alone each other, a pair of early risers hit the ocean off the beach the hotel faced. Joey, Kazuki and Gatomon were on a wooden canoe with fishing poles. "I'm sorry to drag you out for a little fishing," Kazuki apologized.

"Don't sweat it, Kazzy," Joey shrugged off. "I'm sure you have a lot on your mind to bring me out here. It's the cat who came to join us that's a little disturbing."

"Hey, I may be a Digimon but I'm still a cat who wouldn't mind some fish to eat," she mewed. "And didn't you also take a few of those pastelitos from Degs as Pete likes to call him?" Kazuki opened a bag and pulled a pastelito to eat.

"Well, they're good," Kazuki admitted. "Can you blame me?" Joey casted his line before Kazuki finished the pastry. "Though, I wonder why Kuriko's after Ash? It's not like her to go after someone like a boy. He doesn't have the same genes that I do?" Joey blinked to who Kazuki referred before realizing.

"Oh, yeah..." he snapped. "She came with you! When I first saw her, I thought Mai had stowed away… until Yug and my sister straightened me out." Kazuki and Gatomon snickered to the mistaken identity. "Hey, they happen to all of us!" The two settled their laugh. That's when Gatomon saw InuYasha walking onto the beach. This made those on the canoe curious.

"What's InuYasha doing on the beach?"

"Not sure," Gatomon shrugged. InuYasha looked to the ocean and the canoe.

"They're far from shore so they'll be safe," he muttered to himself. That's when his ears perked. He turned to the cliff upon the beach, finding Ichigo in a robe similar to InuYasha, except in black. He also wore straw sandals.

"Sorry for the wait," he announced. "Wanted to make sure the device from the techs at the Soul Society works." Ichigo jumped onto the sand below, something strapped to his back.

"I thought I sensed something odd about you. I didn't think this robe would come in that style."

"That's not all…" Ichigo reached to the item on his back and pulled it to the front, wraps undone and a large sword emerging. InuYasha scoffed to the sword while those on the canoe gulped in fear.

"I don't think Flame Swordsman would be able to stand up to that!" gawked Joey. Not knowing the name, Kazuki and Gatomon looked back at Joey.

"Flame Swordsman?" repeated Kazuki.

"One of my favorite cards. I'll show you later." InuYasha grasped the handle of his weapon.

"Not bad," he sneered. "Here's mine!" He pulled out a large silver sword with fur around the thumb guard. "Say hello to Tetsusaiga!" Ichigo sneered to InuYasha's sword.

"Tetsusaiga, huh?" he replied. "Right back at you. My blade is Zangetsu." InuYasha sneered to Ichigo's blade, thinking he could deal with a sword like his. Those on the canoe struggled to stay calm after seeing InuYasha's Tetsusaiga.

"I don't know what I'm more scared of," Kazuki gulped. "InuYasha's sword or how it came out of the small scabbard?" Both prepared to battle each other. Suddenly…

"Hey!" shouted Haru. Both on the beach looked to find Haru with a large and rather wide sword in his hand. The sword had a black triangle above the thumb guard and a musical note above that. To those on the canoe, they shuttered to yet another one wielding a sword.

"What's going on?!" gawked Gatomon. "Some sort of sword party?!" Haru leaped from the cliff to Ichigo's side.

"Well, this could be interesting: three swordsmen battling on the beach..." Ichigo and InuYasha wondered why Haru came by.

"Hey, this is between me and him!" argued InuYasha. Haru scoffed as he brought out he pointed his sword at InuYasha.

"I could use some exercise, and you two will do just fine. Gives me a chance to try my Ten Commandments." Ichigo smirked to Haru's interest in fighting.

"I'm willing to see what he has," he thought. "How about it, a three-way brawl?" InuYasha needed a second before grinning to the challenge.

"Let's see what your Ten Commandments has," he urged. All three armed themselves before charging in. All three clashed swords, Ten Commandments against Tetsusaiga against Zangetsu. All three pushed off before InuYasha eyed Ichigo and Haru lined up. Tetsusaiga became enveloped with wind. "Got ya both! Wind Scar!" InuYasha swung Tetsusaiga which released waves of cutting winds. Thinking fast, Haru readied his sword.

"Form Two!" he commanded as he put a little carved sword stone in the blade. The Ten Commandments turned orange at the top half of the sword. "Explosion!" He swung the sword down which made a blast in the sand. It kicked the air blades upward and out of harm's way. Removing the stone, the Ten Commandments reverted back to its original form.

"Looks like we're not dealing with anything ordinary." Haru charged at InuYasha but the half-demon slashed the sands, booting some to the air and forcing Haru to cover. InuYasha leaped to the air but Ichigo cocked his sword back.

"I don't think so!" he shouted. "Getsuga Tenshō!" Ichigo swung Zangetsu, a black wave cutting through the air. InuYasha and Haru turned to find the wave about to make contact. They swung their swords to block the attack but that was a mistake. On contact, an explosion erupted and sent both near the ocean. Those on the canoe watched in awe and fear.

"I now wish Kari's up to Armor Digivolve me," Gatomon shuttered. "This is so intense, I doubt we're even safe out in the middle of the drink!"

"I could question that but anything than being out here!" agreed Kazuki. All three swordsmen battled vehemently for several minutes. They locked swords among each other.

"Okay, I'm willing to admit," Ichigo grunted. "You two aren't as bad as I wanted to take you as!"

"That makes two of us!" huffed Haru. "I'd say it's worth waking up for this spar!"

"Yeah?!" growled InuYasha. "Maybe we should do this again!" All three broke away before leaping in the air for one more strike. As they flew with their swords ready, a loud meow echoed through the air. Before anyone realized where the echo came from, a giant silver flying object appeared. It had four enormous black blades facing somewhat upward and surrounding a pink sphere in the middle while having a spikes all over the underbelly. Everyone gawked to the object in the sky.

"What the hell?!" screeched the swordsmen. It charged up energy before releasing a laser blast while it meowed once more. The laser nailed all three of the swordsmen while Kazuki and Joey covered and pinned Gatomon as a shield. The blast sent the swordsmen to the ocean. Splashing, Haru, Ichigo and InuYasha resurfaced unconscious but face-up. Suddenly, a curious meow sounded as the vessel hovered above the canoe.

"Are we next?" asked Joey. That's when a beam surrounded the three before being lifted to the vessel. Joey, Kazuki and Gatomon then phased to nothing… except in a large room viewing the island below. "Okay, where are we?" Gatomon viewed numerous crystals floating around.

"UFO?" she guessed. More meows shrilled from within, leading Kazuki to make a guess.

"It sounds like Ryo-Ohki," he listened. One crystal stopped in front of Kazuki before Ryo-Ohki's face appeared with a welcoming mew. "Hey, there!" Gatomon crawled up Kazuki's shoulder to see Ryo-Ohki for herself.

"Are you the ship, Ryo-Ohki?" The cabbit mewed to confirm. "Really?! Well, you beat me in this. Whatever I can Digivolve into, it's not gonna top this." Ryo-Ohki laughed, understanding her point. Joey looked down, finding the island.

"Whoa, check it out!" he called. Kazuki and Gatomon reached Joey before seeing the island from high up.

"Is that Isle Delfino?" asked Kazuki.

"Yeah, and now I get it. The island looks like a dolphin."

"That's one big fish," Gatomon mewed.

"Not really, Gatomon… Dolphins are mammals, they're not fish."

"Oh, yeah… Sorry, thinking with my stomach, I'm getting a little hungry."

"Yeah, let's return to the surface," Kazuki suggested. "Hey, Ryo-Ohki… Mind beaming us down?" Ryo-Ohki mewed before descending. After picking themselves from the water, May used Bulbasaur to help restrain those on the beach. Ryoko retrieved two of the swords. Zangetsu wasn't found. Chad brought a body that looked like Ichigo and threw it on Ichigo. The two merged and soon, Ichigo came around. Looking up, he saw faces of Elie, Kagome and Orihime. None were happy about what the three did on the beach.

"We're suppose to be on vacation, InuYasha!" stammered Kagome. "You know… free of trying to kill demons. The last thing I wanted you to do while away from the Bone-Eater's well is get in a fight!"

"Excuse me, Kagome!" he yelled back. "I sensed a powerful energy from Ichigo and I wanted to see it for myself!" Ichigo snickered to the verbal brawl.

"InuYasha isn't someone to take lightly," he calmly praised. "He's strong, and may be able to tear this island in one swing." Rachel wasn't thrilled with Ichigo's compliment.

"May, can you let Bulbasaur lift Ichigo?" she requested. Bulbasaur acknowledged before May could and hoisted Ichigo with green vines.

"Now what?" Rachel cracked her knuckles before launching a flurry of punches to Ichigo's gut. After that, Rachel did a heel-kick to Ichigo's face, punting him several feet before landing on his back. Watching from inside were the younger kids having pastelitos as well.

"I can see why you like having Rachel around," Shippo teased to Conan. "I thought Kagome was brutal." Max continued to watch on with the two, including Rini, Amy and Sasami.

"I think it's gonna get worse," he warned. Elie pulled out tonfa sticks and pointed to Haru. He gulped in fear.

"Elie, I know you're upset but seriously," Haru quivered. "The Tonfa Blasters aren't necessary. Please, put them away…" Elie pulled the triggers, energy bullets fired. Haru jumped to his feet, dancing to avoid getting shot. It also opened up Haru for Elie to land a more precise strike. She stopped shooting before cocking her arm back. She fired a punch with the tonfa. POW! Across the face, Haru took the blow and fell unconscious. InuYasha realized he's next.

"Crap..." he gulped as he glanced in Kagome's face. She took a deep breath.

"SIT, BOY!" she screamed. The beads on InuYasha's neck started to glow before a force yanked InuYasha to the pavement. She repeated the two words with anger in her tone. One more and InuYasha wasn't moving… at all. This also rattled Joey and Kazuki.

"Sheesh, and I thought Rin's merciless," Kazuki shuttered.

"For sure," Joey agreed. Later on in the day, others gathered in the dining hall. Joey, with his sister by his side, Kazuki and Gatomon, sitting on Kari's lap, recalled what they saw up to Ryo-Ohki's blast.

"That would explain Kagome yelling earlier," Li recalled. "Man, those three certainly know how to wreck a good vacation."

"For sure," TK agreed. "I know a bunch of us wanted this not to happen but seriously…" To Serenity and Yuna, they're glad Joey and Kazuki came out of their ordeal just fine. Yuna came in with a tray full of food.

"I'm happy to know Kazuki wasn't in the way of anyone," she sighed as she put a bowl of rice balls in the middle for everyone to snack on.

"Same for me as well," Serenity followed. Shippo, Musica and Chad emerged to join the rest.

"Hey, sorry for what our friends did," Musica apologized. "We tried to do everything to make sure these three didn't draw their swords."

"Don't worry too much," Darrien shrugged off. Each of the new three grabbed rice balls to snack on.

"Anyway, why would those three want to beat each other up?" asked Kari. "Not to mention wield massive swords." Chad rose his hand, willing to speak first.

"Ichigo was just a classmate when a Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki arrived," he started. "Taking her reiatsu, he used it to exercise demonic beings known as Hollows. Since then, he's helped the Soul Society with powerful Hollows like the Arancarr. I believe the reason is that he sensed something within InuYasha and wanted to test his own strength and power." This seemed to fit with the other two as Shippo was next.

"As you all know by now, InuYasha's a half-demon," the fox child started. "He's been shunned by the villagers back home except for a priestess named Kikyo. However, another half-demon named Onigumo, or rather more known as Naraku killed Kikyo, but she didn't die until she sealed InuYasha to a tree and kept him there for 50 years until Kagome appeared and broke him out. Now he's trying to slay Naraku out of revenge." To Alphonse, InuYasha's intentions were clear.

" **Then the reason he challenged Haru and Ichigo is to test how strong he is before going back,"** he believed.

"I believe so." Now, Musica's speaking.

"Haru is the new Rave Master," he began. "He's got a sworn duty to rid our lands of Shadow Stones. Since he found Plue, he's been on the quest. Seeing both Ichigo and InuYasha and their tense stare-downs, it's no question he wanted to prove himself that he's as strong as the other two." The explanations got on everyone's nerves.

"That's scary to know," Nodoka gulped. Pikachu squeaked in agreement.

"Maybe, but those girls will keep them in line," Joey assured. After eating, the vacationers called it a night. However, the three had been tied up on the beach on stakes. Haru, Ichigo and InuYasha moaned at how their little scuffle created this punishment.

"If I get sick, I blame you," Haru muttered. Ichigo and InuYasha growled to Haru,

"It was between us!" they snapped. "It's your damn fault if you get sick! You had no reason!" The next morning, the Wiggler Bus arrived with Pete behind the wheel. Stepping out, he sipped on some coffee.

"Alright, let's go sightseeing," he announced. With Kuriko by his side, Ash wondered about their next destination.

"So, Pete," he opened. "Where are we going today?" To Kuriko, she had a trip in mind.

"I bet we're going to the Coconut Mall," she guessed. Others didn't agree.

"The mall isn't for sightseeing, Miss Katzetsubaki," Negi shook. "Unless you want to window shop." Rebecca snickered to the correction. Still, everyone got on the bus, including the three who spent the night tied up beach side. Pete drove off, their next location awaiting.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. Hilltop View, Mountainous Trouble

_Chapter 5: Hilltop View, Mountainous Trouble_

* * *

The vacationers rode the Wiggler Bus with Pete as the driver. After a 15 minute drive, the bus stopped. Looking over, the vacationers saw hills and walls of white. There were windmills aplenty throughout the land. "Everyone, we've arrived at Bianco Hills," Pete announced. Everyone soon filed out to get a look at the hills and the structures. To Ash, this felt like a great place to release his Pokémon.

"I think our Pokémon would like it up here, especially Swellow and Beautifly," he suggested. May and Max agreed.

"The air feels so clean, I wouldn't mind being here for days," May chirped.

"Maybe a few picnics with Rini wouldn't hurt as well," Max thought up. Rini and Serena chuckled to the idea.

"Add Darrien and you got yourself a deal," Serena offered. The kids laughed before Ash and May released Swellow, Grovyle, Beautifly and Skitty. Swellow and Beautifly embraced the clean air and wonderful sunshine and soared. Patamon soon followed, much to TK's curiosity.

"Don't tell me you're joining those Pokémon for flight time," he giggled.

"Hey, it's like Ash and May said," Patamon referred. "It's a great spot to fly around." Sakura flashed a card out as well as a key.

"Let me join in!" she wished. Li didn't want Sakura to use the cards.

"You should think about using the Clow Cards so brazenly like that," he warned.

"Relax, Li. Besides, what could be out here to oppose us?" To Pete, it sounded familiar.

"Every time I write something like that, something bad always rears its ugly head," he believed. Orihime blinked to what Pete meant.

"But you're not writing right now," she pointed out. Sakura held the key out before his made a chant. "Key of the Star, with powers burning bright, reveal the staff and shine your light!" The key began to glow. "Release!" The key morphed in the light before appearing again as a pink wand. The head had a bird beak with wings on it. Next, she pulled out a card which spun in the air. "The Fly!" Sakura swung the wand and pecked the card before a light cocooned her. When the light faded, her wand had grown wings. Those watching awed the wings. That's when she turned to find Yugi watching. "Want a ride?" Yugi became hesitant to the offer.

"I-I don't know…" he stuttered. To Joey and Serenity, they knew why.

"I figured after Yugi promised Rebecca not to fall in love, he's becoming hesitant to Sakura's offer," Joey muttered. Rebecca didn't believe Joey at all, and for good reason.

"This is the first time I've heard such a statement," she growled. The Wheelers forgot that Rebecca was on the island and jumped. Serenity wanted to clarify.

"Not you, Rebecca," she spoke up. "There's a Rebecca back home, Rebecca Hawkins!" The name mentioned, Rebecca figured she wasn't who Joey referred to.

"Oh…" Cleared of the mix-up, Rebecca decided to tease Yugi in going on the flying wand with Sakura. "Don't worry, Yugi! It's not a date or anything!" Yugi blinked to why Rebecca would encourage him to go flying. That's when he palmed his face.

"I forgot," he pondered. "She's also named Rebecca." He let out a sigh. "Well, I can't argue." Sakura gave Yugi a boost before she commanded the wand to take to the sky. Ryoko didn't want to be left out of the fun.

"You're flying without me?" she sneered. "I need some hang time!" Without much effort, she took to the air. Kuriko snickered, also willing to fly. She turned to Yuna, wanting to know if she felt like flying.

"What do you say, Yuna?" she urged. "Show how these guys how to fly?" To Yuna, she believed it was a ruse to get her away from Kazuki.

"No you don't!" she denied. "I'm his wife and I won't let you get near him!" Kuriko blinked suddenly. It's as if she forgot she's chasing Ash at the moment. Still, Yuna wouldn't buy anything from her.

"Suit yourself." Kuriko flew away. By Max, Rini wanted to have the same experience.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to fly with everyone up there?" she asked.

"Well, it would be cool to do so," Max answered. Escaping from Kagome's arms, Kilala mewed to Max and Rini, who weren't sure how to answer.

"Kilala?" That's when Kagome remembered.

"Kilala is strong and fast in the air," she explained. "Why not give her a ride?" Max wasn't sure about Kagome's offer.

"How?" he questioned. That's when Kilala summoned a torrent of fire, making a pillar. When the pillar extinguished itself, Kilala wasn't a little kitten but a saber-tooth cat with rings of fire around its paws. Max and Rini awed the transformation.

"That will work!" gulped Rini. Kilala laid down to offer the kids a ride. Believing Kilala's safe, Max and Rini jumped on board before Kilala leaped into the air. They flew up with the rest of the crowd. Those in the air enjoyed the soft breeze. Suddenly, ears picked up music. Ryoko began searching for the sound of someone playing.

"Anyone else picking that music up?" she asked. All searched around before Patamon peered to the ground to find Toads and Piantas playing several musical instruments… but they weren't synchronized.

"No!" a leading Toad halted repeatedly. "We need to make sure everyone's on the same page!" Everyone in the air descended to see the band.

"Let's go see them," Patamon suggested. The leading Toad heard the flapping wings before turning to find the vacationers.

"Oh, we got visitors!" When the fliers landed, Yugi was the first to confront.

"Sorry, are we ruining your practice?" he asked.

"No, I was just about to double check when their cues are. See, we're warming up for the celebration at the end of the week. If you want, we'll try again with this band." Sakura nodded, wanting to listen to a preview.

"Sure!" she answered. While those who flew to hear the music disappeared from sight, InuYasha grumbled about yesterday's stoppage as he leaned his back on a tree.

"If I had more time with the two, I would've won," he growled. "Just that damn UFO had to get in my way." Hearing InuYasha, Kagome and Alphonse reached the half-demon.

"You're mad that your fight with Ichigo and Haru was interrupted?" she stammered. "How about my feelings that you _were_ in that fight that could've killed either one of you?!" Despite being in the suit of armor, Alphonse's feelings seemed apparent.

" **The last thing we need on a vacation is someone dying as a result,"** he expressed. **"Is a bloodbath what you want?"** InuYasha didn't want blood but a battle.

"My purpose was to test my strength against Ichigo and understand that feeling I had when we first met!" he argued back. Kagome didn't believe him.

"Yeah, right!" she snapped back. "What makes you think no one would get hurt?!"

"That's not something for you know! Just shut up and let me have my freedom!"

"SIT, BOY!" The chant caused the beads on InuYasha's neck to weight several tons. He slammed the ground due to the beads. Out of nowhere, a bee's nest fell onto his head. Kagome and Alphonse gulped before the bees inside began stinging him. The bee stings forced InuYasha to his feet, running and screaming to remove the nest. He tried in panic to remove it himself. Unfortunately, Ichigo and Haru got in his path.

"Hold on!" yelled Ichigo. Whatever InuYasha tried to say was muffled by the nest. Unable to move in time, InuYasha collided with the two, and the bees began to sting Ichigo and Haru. The three yelled in tremendous pain as the stinging continued until they fell into a river. The bees scattered. After pulling them from the river and the nest from InuYasha's head, Pete grabbed a first-aid kit. He, Rachel, Miharu and Nodoka pulled stingers from swollen faces. InuYasha's face seemed unrecognizable. Pete applied ointment onto the faces.

"You just had to say it," InuYasha muffled.

"Like it's her fault a bee nest was above you at the time?" nagged Shippo. After treatment, the crew walked around the hills and walls, as well as the windmills. They also viewed Piantas among the crowd.

"As you can see, the marble white walls are what make Bianco Hills special," Pete explained as they viewed a village.

"It's easy to see why," Conan spoke up. "Bianco is derived from the Italian word, 'blanco' or white as its applied." Rachel smiled to Conan's quip.

"A smart boy," Yukinari complimented. "I probably wouldn't have recognized the language as quickly as you." Conan shot a smirk to Yukinari and Miharu.

"I bet Ichigo would've guessed that as soon as you did, Conan," Orihime wagered. Unfortunately for him, he had his head bandaged up, as well as InuYasha's and Haru's. Suddenly, an awkward grunt. Pete realized the location.

"Degs warned me Petey's still around," he reminded. Turning, he saw a red bulb with yellow flower petals around the head. Tenchi flipped at the sight.

"What is _that_?!" he yelped. All turned to see the bulb duck down to hide. To Pete, he found the creature.

"It's okay, Petey! No one will hurt you!" Lifting the bulb, it revealed a green human-like body with tall leaves for arms and a red speedo.

"Is that a plant?" wondered Darrien.

"Almost. That's Petey Piranha, a mutated Piranha Plant. He's fought Mario and lost. He's a big boy but he's harmless now." Those flying back to rejoin the group saw Petey but not as friendly.

"Oh no, Ash!" alerted Kuriko.

"Tenchi!" shouted Ryoko. They flew back at high speed but seeing the fliers, Pete jumped in.

"Wait!" he shouted before Ryoko reached. "It's all good. I'm showing everyone to be familiar." Petey barked before he used the leaves to bring out a durian to show. This astonished Edward.

"So you grow durians up here?" he asked. Alphonse recalled seeing a durian before.

" **Didn't you try multiple times to pick one up but kept getting poked by it?"** he brought up. Edward didn't mind the memory.

"Actually, this is a good time to try some alchemy." Alphonse gawked to Edward's wishing.

" **Hold on! Don't you think that would be ill-advised!?"** Others thought this would be a nice show and encouraged Edward.

"They want to see it. Besides, I'm feeling rusty." He palmed the durian while Petey watched.

"So, what's gonna happen?" asked May.

" **Ed's gonna perform a transmutation,"** Alphonse started. " **We're pretty educated to Equivalent Exchange:** **Humankind** **cannot gain anything without** **first giving something in return** **. To obtain, one of equal value must be lost."** Everyone watched as Edward clapped his hands.

"Here we go…" muttered Ash. He palmed the durian and sparks emitted. After a flash, the durian turned into a spiked helmet. A lot of them awed the transmutation. Petey freaked at what happened to the durian. He roared after seeing that. He sprayed brown sludge at the alerted crowd who leaped out of the way. To Ryoko, that was a threat.

"You dare attack my Tenchi?!" she yelled. A sword emerged from nowhere and in Ryoko's hand. She flew at Petey but the Piranha spat more sludge in her face just as she came within reach. She collapsed and started to heave.

"Ryoko!" shouted Tenchi and Sasami. Swellow saw Ash in trouble and flew in to stop Petey.

"Swellow, back away!" warned Ash. Petey turned around to find Swellow and spat more sludge. Swellow flew clear. Kuriko wanted to keep a raged Petey from getting Ash. She armed herself with slips of paper with Japanese symbols on it.

"Ginji Children!" she chanted. The slips became ghostly swordsmen. Not enough as Petey blew away the ghosts by flapping the arms. Kari and Gatomon knew Ash was in trouble.

"We gotta help them," Kari suggested.

"Armor me up and you got a deal," Gatomon offered. Kari nodded before bringing out two hand-held devices. One had a pink rubber handle while the bigger was like a Game Boy Advanced, except gray. Both screens began to flash and Gatomon began to glow. "Gatomon Armor Digivolve to… NEFERTIMON, the Angel of Light." Gatomon transformed into a white sphinx with wings. Gatomon's gauntlets had silver steel and she received shoulder guards and a breastplate. Kari boarded the new creature before flying in. Kuriko backed away from Petey but Ash stood his ground with Pete.

"Petey, calm down!" called Pete. "There are more durians on the island!" Petey leaped in the air before gazing down on Ash and Pete. Kari and Nefertimon raced in as it looked like he aimed for Ash. "Where's Degs?" Kari stuck her arm out.

"Ash!" she called down. Ash looked up and found the hand. Both grabbed each other before taking off. Not another second later, Pete dove clear as Petey slammed. Ash looked up to see Kari hanging on. "You good?"

"Yeah, and just in time!" he replied. After they flew to safety and regrouped with the others. The jeep arrived before Diego arrived to find Pete retreating from Petey's stomps.

"Pete!" he called out. Pete looked back to see Diego grabbing water tanks. These tanks had handles with a horn-like spray head on top of a tube connected to the tank. A large screw appeared on the head and a belt to wrap around the body. Pete wrapped the tank around his waist.

"Nice timing!" he huffed. "Alright, activate F.L.U.D.D. system!" The spray head moved upward, facing Petey.

"F.L.U.D.D. SYSTEM… ACTIVATED," it buzzed. Petey raced after Pete and Diego. When he opened the giant mouth, the two hosts braced.

"Fire!" they shouted. Both tanks sprayed heavy streams of water into Petey's mouth, his stomach filling. Halted in the air, he began to fall. Ash found Pikachu with the group and nodded to a plan.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he ordered. Pikachu charged in before launching a Thunderbolt attack. It struck Petey, shocking him.

"Nefertimon, finish it!" called out Kari.

"You got it!" the sphinx mewed. A pink beam of light emerged. "Rosetta Stone!" A stone slab emerged and smashed into Petey's gut. He coughed water and fell to the ground. It wasn't moving and Pete and Diego checked on the enlarged plant. Petey craned his head.

"Finally calmed down?" questioned Diego. Petey nodded.

"Good," Pete sighed. "Hate to see you lose it again..." The vacationers surrounded Kari, praising her and Nefertimon for saving Ash. The two took the praise in stride. The sun began to fall and after time in the Windmill Village, everyone reported back to Hotel Delfino. In the dining hall, Sasami and Yuna fixed everyone's meals while Kuriko, Sakura and Rini explained the music in play.

"So, they're performing a concert at Pinna Park during the anniversary?" questioned Joey. "Seems like a hoot to listen to."

"Indeed," Chad nodded. "Some nice music to go with the games over there,"

"I know, right?" laughed Sakura. "I can't wait to see what Pinna Park has to offer when we arrive." As the conversation continued, Winry stayed outside the hotel and began her search.

"I know Pete and Diego have to be somewhere," she muttered. Suddenly, she heard metal kinking. "There?" She turned to a workshop where Pete and Diego worked on the F.L.U.D.D. sprayers.

"They worked pretty good to stop Petey this afternoon," Diego summarized. "Still, that's a lot of water it let out."

"Yeah, last time I jostle the pressure gauge like that," Pete admitted. "Professor E. Gadd left us with some touchy equipment."

"That, he did." Without warning, the door crept open with Winry coming through.

"Pete?" she noticed. "Diego?" Both men turned to the blond.

"Winry?!" they gawked. Winry soon saw the F.L.U.D.D. sprayers and dashed to them.

"Oh my god! I saw you two use these against Petey! What are they!? Obviously, hi-tech, right?!" The sprayer's nozzle turned to Winry.

"HELLO," it buzzed. "I AM F.L.U.D.D., THE FLASH LIQUIDIZER ULTRA DOUSING DEVICE, CREATED BY PROFESSOR ELVIN GADD." Winry squealed in glee at the speech it gave.

"This is so awesome! You shoot water out of there?! What else can you do?" Rachel, Elie and Den found Winry in the workshop before entering.

"Found you!" shouted Elie before the two grappled Winry out.

"No! Let me go! I gotta know!"

"No, we're leaving!" snapped Rachel.

"Tell me your professor! Come on!" Rather than hear her anymore, Rachel delivered a chop to the back of Winry's neck. That knocked her unconscious.

"And I thought my dad got obnoxious at inappropriate times." Sweat drops leaked from Pete's and Diego's heads.

"Thanks for tracking her down, Den," Elie complimented. Den barked a couple of times before Rachel and Elie carried her away. Dumbfounded, Pete and Diego couldn't find words to say about that. Den barked to Pete after sniffing dog food. Diego smiled.

"Pete, you feed her," he called. "I got my project to work on."

"You bet," Pete replied. The rest of the night had gone quiet, more for the Elrics now that Winry's calm… but who knows if she'll try again to learn about the F.L.U.D.D.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	6. Watermelon Gelato

_Chapter 6: Watermelon Gelato_

* * *

The night wasn't quite over as a sign-up sheet appeared by the front desk. "A watermelon contest?" read Serena. "I wonder what the contest is?"

"Are we eating watermelons?" guessed Miharu. Pikachu also wondered as well.

"There's no specification on what the watermelon contest is," Joey studied. Ash came forward and signed his name to it.

"I'm game for this," he grinned. "It'll be a lot of fun." Following Ash was Miharu who signed her name.

"I could ask if Yukinari would join," she thought up. To Serena and Joey, they could at least try.

"You know, what the heck," Joey shrugged. "It'll be a nice change of pace before I start teaching you about Duel Monsters." After signing his name, Serena surrendered and signed on hers as well.

"Might as well," she caved. "So, it will be the four of us with this watermelon contest at Gelato Beach tomorrow." The four glared to each other, wondering who would come out on top.

' _These three against a Pokémon Trainer with a huge appetite?'_ Ash minded. _'Not a chance.'_

' _By the power of the Moon, I will triumph in this competition,'_ Serena thought to herself.

' _Yugi may be the King of Duel Monsters,'_ Joey reminded himself. _'I'll have to prove that I'm a champion to him and Serenity.'_

' _I hope Yukinari will cheer me on and we can share the watermelons together,'_ Miharu hoped. With their names on the sign-up, the four and Pikachu chose to call it a night.

"Well, if there are others willing to sign on, we'll accept their challenge, too," Serena acknowledged.

"Agreed. I'll see you all tomorrow." The night passed through and the morning rose. Emma gathered the bus for the trip, also taking a loaf of bread. Everyone hopping on the Wiggler bus in various swimwear and shirts over their bodies. Word about a contest interested other vacationers, including those who heard about it.

"A watermelon contest?" wondered Nodoka. "Is it an eating contest?" Some didn't agree like Edward.

"I don't know," he doubted. "Something seems suspicious about it being a watermelon eating contest." Chad would agree.

"If it was a watermelon eating contest," he started. "Wouldn't the sheet include the word 'eating' on it?"

"I'm sure we'll learn soon enough," Musica murmured. "No need to get in a tizzy over trivial matter."

"I suppose so…" Soon, the bus arrived by another beach, larger with huts and trees compared to the damaged Sirena Beach. There were also puck-shape creatures with duck bills waddling around.

"The Cataquacks are out," Emma nodded. "Be careful of the red ones." Now she turned to the vacationers. "So here's the plan: have fun in these two hours. When it's time, I'll need those participating in the contest to join me at the pavilion. Sound good?" All agreed with either fists in the air or nods. Little girls had one-piece swimsuits, Amy's and Rini's having skirts as well. Edward took his black leather jacket off to reveal a sky blue t-shirt and an arm of metal. The arm from the shoulder down had joints and screws over the limb. Shocked were some of the kids.

"Ed, what happened to your arm?" gasped May, wearing a green two-piece swimsuit.

"It's all steel!" gawked Shippo. Not afraid, Edward explained his ordeal.

"It's the result of trying forbidden alchemy," he admitted. "After our mother died, Al and I tried to bring her back with a transmutation to bring her back. I actually lost my left leg in the transmutation. Al lost his body. I sacrificed my right arm to keep Al's soul here." Feeling sympathy for Edward, May stepped up and hugged the blond. Edward gawked to May's show of support.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your family," she apologized. Edward settled and wrapped May with his left arm.

"Thanks…" Near the ocean, Ash prepared to swim with a blue Cataquack nearby.

"Let's get a little warm-up in before I take the contest," he grinned before he removed his shirt. He exposed a toned torso and firm chest over his red trunks. Speaking of red, Kuriko was in a strapless two-piece bikini and thong set of the same color. Lying on a beach blanket by Yuna, she turned to see Ash giving instructions to the Cataquack by him. Her awe couldn't hide from the sunglasses she tilted down to see for herself.

' _That's what Ash looks like topless?'_ she minded. _'He's forbidden fruit… one I want to bite into…"_ Kari also saw the bod of Ash while wearing a one-piece white swimsuit of her own.

' _Whoa, Ash's top has to be silky smooth!'_ she thought. _'Not even Davis would impress me now. I wouldn't mind him helping me around the house with a few heavy items while Tai's at soccer practice.'_ The Cataquack tilted its bill downward to prepare for launch.

"On three…" he instructed. "One… two… three!" The Cataquack flung Ash to the air and he got serious hang time. He flew across the length of the circled extension of the beach in the water, almost twice as far. "Yahoo! Cannonball!" He tucked his arms and legs inward before splashing. The landing into the drink exploded with water flying in all directions. Underwater, Ash saw red and green fish with wings and yellow mohawk-like head fins. Ash swam around before coming up for air. The Cataquack that launched him looked out to see him smile. He quacked.

"That was quite a launch," Negi observed with Rebecca by him. "That was a good 350 meters out to sea. I'm surprised he's okay." Rebecca's eyes saw something else.

"That's pretty far indeed, but I think he could've gone a bit further if that thing threw Ash a fraction of a second later," she studied. "He appeared to have been fired at a 50-degree angle." Negi awed the lesson before adding more.

"I see. From that angle, he would come close to 400 meters. So, you're an arithmetic teacher?"

"I would ask you the same thing. You're the one opening up with the distance Ash flew." They soon see Ash swimming back and seeing others in the oceans to where he met up with them. Pikachu laid on the beach by Ash's towel and May's blanket. He seemed sound asleep… and Gatomon came on the prowl. She saw Pikachu and wanted to have a little fun.

"Hope you like the sand…" she sneered before she began digging sand and piled it on Pikachu. While she buried all but his head, Max saw Rini building a sandcastle using buckets and other tools. Using a small plastic shovel, she tried poking a door but sand constantly fell from the wall. Max came to check on the tools.

"Let me help you," he offered. He brought some of his tools. Rini's face became red.

"Th- Thank you…" she stuttered. While Max gave Rini help on her sandcastle, Kuriko sat up to find Ash floating peacefully on his back. Her smile summoned Elizabeth who became concerned.

" _Kuriko, what's the matter with you?!"_ she asked. _"Ever since you came to this island, you've been fixated on that young boy!"_ Kuriko wasn't worried about Elizabeth's concerns.

"Sometimes, Elizabeth, you need to realize there's more than Kazuki to be in mind," she pointed out. Yuna, who laid on a blanket with a navy blue swimsuit, sat up to watch Kuriko fly over the vacationers toward Ash, surprising the lot.

"Kuriko can fly?" gulped Ryoko. "I thought I'd be the only one, and especially helping Tenchi."

"Yeah, it would be cool to fly once in a while," Chad muttered. Kuriko found Ash and blocked the sun from his eyes. This woke him from the floating slumber.

"Time for the contest, already?" he wondered. That's when Kuriko descended to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Take a deep breath," she calmly ordered. Ash's eyes widened before Kuriko pushed him underwater.

"Ash!" cried May, Max, Kari and Rini.

"Kuriko!" cried Kazuki, Yuna and Elie. In the ocean, Kuriko embraced Ash and sealed lips together in a kiss. She slipped her tongue in his mouth to tie together while both seemed to be hanging upside-down.

' _I've always wanted to do this to Kazuki when I learned of his lineage,'_ she minded. _'It's just… my heart seems to want this boy… a pretty good bod for someone this young… and not Kazuki. It's going against my mind and my family's wishes… but as of right now, I don't care!"_ After sometime kissing, both came to the surface which they had a chance to breathe. "I bet that was your first kiss, right?" To Ash, Kuriko wasn't off.

"First time on the lips, for sure," he replied. Kuriko giggled.

"I'm glad to be your first for something." Just then, something else covered the sky. All looked up, including Pikachu who began to realize his head and feet stuck out. He barely had a chance to struggle when Gatomon glanced to him.

"Had a nice nap?" she teased. Pikachu figured Gatomon had to have trapped him in the pile. "What's wrong? Just wanted to have a little fun."

("So why bury me?") complained Pikachu. Gatomon stood by Pikachu's feet.

"Let's see how sensitive these babies are." She started rubbing and tickling Pikachu's feet. The mouse twitched and shook, laughing against his will. He broke free of his pile, but Gatomon pounced back on to give him a kiss, quick and not as deep as Kuriko's. When the sun escaped their sight, they looked up. In the sky was a giant tan block-like bird flying over the beach.

"What the hell is that?" questioned Ichigo.

" **Big, for sure!"** freaked Alphonse. Emma looked at her watch and nodded.

"The Sand Bird's right on time," she expected. The Sand Bird descended and everyone on or near Gelato Beach awed the arrival. Kuriko flew Ash from the water and onto dry land. Upon reaching, Emma grabbed a bullhorn. "Okay! I need Ash, Joey, Miharu and Serena at the gazebo!" The vacationers all gathered to see the giant Sand Bird as well as this contest on a floating hut. The hut had a handful of Pianta

"Good luck, Miharu," Yukinari offered. Miharu nodded before joining the other three at the gazebo. "Thanks, now it's the four of you who will be doing a simple task: Bring the largest watermelon back here. When you four return, I will announce the winner and the prize." The four realized this wasn't an eating contest.

"Looks like we'll have to work for it," Joey mulled. A question arose with Ash.

"Where do you get the watermelons from?" he asked.

"Good question," Emma reacted. "The watermelons will be out there. Bring one back for measuring. Everyone ready?" Ash, Miharu, Joey and Serena bobbed heads. "Go!" The four rushed onto the beach in search of a watermelon. When Joey found some, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"These aren't ones you see in the market," he gawked. "They're huge!" The watermelons were large but one was as big as Joey. He brought out a camera. "Tristan's gonna flip at how big these melons are!" Taking a picture, he placed it back in his pocket before facing a problem: how to carry the huge watermelon. That's when he saw Ash rolling one back. Pikachu stood on his head to give him directions. "Why didn't I think of that?" New idea set, Joey rolled the watermelon from its patch across the sand. Serena and Miharu soon followed. Each one had size. Emma studied each one.

"Well, let me get the back two before announcing the winner," she planned. "In last place is Serena's watermelon." Serena whined to getting the smallest of the picked watermelons. "In third place: Ash's watermelon." Ash petted Pikachu for his help.

"Hey, that's on me," he admitted. "You just acted as lookout." It's down to Joey and Miharu.

"I think if you knew this was the contest," Ichigo believed to Chad. "You would've tried it out." Chad crossed his arms and thought.

"I would give it a try," he answered. Emma had one final analysis.

"Okay, the winner of the watermelon contest…" she started, but paused. "Miharu!" The winner let out a cheer as she dashed to and hugged Yukinari. Joey mulled to coming in second.

"That's still a big watermelon," Yugi complimented. "Nothing wrong with second place." Joey nodded.

"One day, I'll get it," he vowed. "Just wait." Emma confronted Miharu as the Sand Bird came by.

"Miharu, you and one other can ride on the Sand Bird and get a glimpse of Isle Delfino from above." Yukinari and Miharu liked the idea.

"Can we have some watermelon before going up?" asked Yukinari.

"Of course! I'm sure the Sand Bird will drop you back at the hotel." The Sand Bird agreed. InuYasha decided to take this chance to show off.

"Looks like this is my time to shine," he grinned as he unsheathed Tetsusaiga. "Stand back." Listening, everyone stood back. InuYasha focused before he lifted the sword. "Wind Scar!" InuYasha swung and all the watermelons were shredded into pieces, reducing the four giant fruits into chunks. Everyone but Kagome applauded InuYasha's solution. Yukinari and Miharu got on board the Sand Bird who flew off while everyone else enjoyed the juicy fruit. After enjoying watermelon, Emma escorted the group back to the hotel. On the way back, Emma had an announcement.

"Tomorrow, the casino will open for everyone. Those who want to gamble will be able to do so." Joey, Ryoko and Elie grew excited.

"Tomorrow?!" gasped Ryoko. "I can't wait!"

"Count me in!" claimed Joey. Above, Yukinari and Miharu on the Sand Bird saw the island and the shape.

"Wow!" awed Yukinari. "That's one heck of a dolphin!" Miharu embraced Yukinari, which he didn't mind. The Sand Bird came down and removed the two at Hotel Delfino. With one loud caw, the Sand Bird ascended and left the island. In Sasami's room, Ryoko couldn't wait for the casino to open.

"Man, the gamble needs to come!" she urged.

"When it opens, you can have as much fun as you need," Tenchi assured. Sasami wondered if Ryo-Ohki would have a treat.

"Say, Tenchi?" she started. "Can Ryo-Ohki have something? She's behaved so far." To Tenchi and Ryoko, they didn't mind.

"More carrots, I bet," she shrugged. "Maybe a cake-full of carrots?" Ryo-Ohki mewed to the idea.

"Ryoko, there's something called carrot cake," Tenchi corrected. Ryo-Ohki mewed louder to the idea.

"You want to try carrot cake, Ryo-Ohki?" guessed Sasami. Ryo-Ohki nodded to the thought. "Okay! I'll call room service." She reached the phone and dialed a number.

"This is Pete!" announced himself on the other line.

"Pete, it's Sasami. Is it possible to deliver some carrot cake to my room?"

"Of course. Degs should have some. We'll get it to your room in a few minutes."

"Thanks." A few minutes after the call, there's a knock. Tenchi opened the door to find Diego.

"Room service," he announced. "Someone call for a carrot cake?"

"We did!" Diego carried a tray to Sasami and Ryo-Ohki who watched him reveal the slices of carrot cake. This mystified Ryo-Ohki. It wasn't what she imagined. "It's okay, Ryo-Ohki! I'm sure there's a carrot in there." Convinced, Ryo-Ohki bit into it. Her eyes lit up. She mewed loudly.

"She likes it!" noted Ryoko. Ryo-Ohki leaped to Diego's arms but the impact knocked him to the wall which she began licking him repeatedly. "Okay! You're welcome! Stop!" The three others in the room laughed to Ryo-Ohki's onslaught.

"Hey, save some for me!" Ryo-Ohki relented before Sasami had a chance. "Thanks a bunch!" That's when she gave Diego a kiss, making him blush while giggling.

"Now it's three girls?" he tried to understand. Tenchi and the girls laughed. Still, the day ended in peace. Another day in paradise lived and another secret will be revealed.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	7. Under Garmentum

_Chapter 7: Under Garmentum_

* * *

Yugi awoke to welcome the new day. He stepped out of Hotel Delfino to see the mostly cloudy skies. "Doesn't look like there will be rain in the forecast," he believed. "Too bad we're not going anywhere today… at least, as far as I know." Without warning, something from Yugi awoke.

" _It seems like this vacation was, indeed, in order,"_ he assumed.

"So I'm starting to understand." That's when Yugi had an idea. "Say, Pharaoh… Maybe you'd like some rest and relaxation outside the Millennium Puzzle. After all, it's your time off as well as mine, Joey's and Serenity's."

" _Are you sure? And wouldn't the others have some sort of suspicion about me if we swap ourselves?"_

"Don't worry. No one else is awake… and it won't be like the time you went out with Téa." The voice laughed, humored to the moment.

" _Don't get me wrong, Téa and I had a nice time that day."_ Yugi chuckled before he guided his hands below the pyramid which began to move. It shook while glowing in gold.

" _YU-GI-OH!"_ both shouted. In a flash, Yugi grew up a couple of feet. Yugi glared to the air and breathed it.

"Isle Delfino…" he muttered. Yugi seemed alone for a moment when…

"Yami?" spoke Serenity. Yugi, or Yami, turned to see Serenity holding Plue in her arms.

"Serenity…" Noting the new size, Serenity believed this was someone else.

"Did Yugi switch with you?"

"He did. Said that this vacation's also mine and he wanted to share it with me." Serenity nodded, understanding Yugi's consent.

"So Yugi…" Plue awed how Yami and Serenity knew each other.

"By the way, is Joey awake?"

"He woke me, talking about the casino opening today. More than likely, he's already playing the slots." At the casino's entrance, Joey, Ryoko, Elie and the ermine groaned to a sign on the door.

"HOTEL DELFINO CASINO TO OPEN AT 3:00."

Those wanting to gamble had to wait. "Not until this afternoon?" groaned Elie.

"Here I am ready to test my luck and skill as a duelist and I get shut out by a locked door?" whined Joey.

"Well, nothing better to do than wait for the afternoon to arrive," Ryoko shrugged. The other three sighed. They wanted to play in the casino, now having to bide their time. Outside, buzz about Yami reached the vacationers. The teenage girls fawned to Yami, notably Orihime, Kagome and Winry. Yami instantly became nervous as those who wanted to play in the casino saw the commotion.

"So, you're a 5,000 year-old pharaoh from Egypt?" asked Winry.

"How are you still alive after all this time?" wondered Orihime. "Are you a secret Soul Reaper?" The comments toward Yami made him rather concerned.

"I assure you, everything will be discussed," he promised. While Yami received attention, the three who fought each other days ago could only watch in disbelief.

"Those three are still punishing us for having that spar on the beach," Haru murmured. "How long will it take for them to get over that?" Ichigo and IY understood Haru's grief.

"That's what happens when our egos and bravado gets the better of us," Ichigo realized. "Just give it some more time for everything to blow over." The teenage girls swarmed Yami. Serenity came to Yami's side with an idea.

"If you wanna learn about him this badly," she voiced. "I suggest we teach you about Duel Monsters." The girls became interested.

"Oh, boy…" Joey gulped. "I'm not sure Yami knows what to expect, considering Winry's barging in to learn of the squirting devices a couple of days ago." Joey's concerns came true when Yami turned to him.

"Joey, the Duel Disks," he spoke. "Could you retrieve them?" Joey shrugged, not willing to betray a friend.

"Sure thing." Joey rushed to their room, passing an opened door with May peeking out. Just before Joey could reach the room.

"Did we miss breakfast?" she questioned. Joey turned to the brunette girl.

"Lesson time. We're gonna teach everyone about Duel Monsters." May seemed interested to this lesson.

"Hey, lemme get ready before knowing that!" Joey snickered, accepting the request.

"Sure!" Joey entered his room and gathered four circular silver armlet that had what seemed to be a blade with arrows and slots. Joined by the trainers and May's brother, Joey exited with the items in question, including packets. "Got 'em, Yami, including the decks."

"Thanks, Joey!" praised Yami. Seeing the action, Diego came out to see the ordeal as Yami and the Wheelers faced the crowd. "In our home, we play a game called Duel Monsters. This originated about 5,000 years ago when Egyptians played, now performed by everyone around Domino City and the rest of the world we're from." Joey pulled four cards from a deck, each having a different color: yellow, orange, magenta and green.

"Each color represents what type of card it is: Normal Monsters are yellow, Effect Monsters are orange, Magic and Spells are green and Traps are magenta. Yugi's grandpa loaned us these decks for all of you to try out."

"We can teach you how battles work and even duel you," Serenity offered. Seeing all the hubbub, Ash rose his hand.

"Count me in!" he volunteered. Everyone glared to Ash's will to try Duel Monsters. Yami smirked, inspired by Ash's will.

"Alright, Ash!" he called over. "Come on over. You'll duel Joey!" Ash stepped to the Wheelers which Serenity showed the decks upside-down, the red face of the card up. Pikachu wondered on the deck as well. Ash wouldn't be alone.

"Well, if you wanna do it, Ash," TK spoke up, causing Kari to glance. "I'll be your opponent, not Joey." Humored, Yami decided to allow the two boys to duel each other.

"Very well," he complied. "In that case, I'll be coaching TK and Joey can coach Ash." Joey and Serenity helped slip the armlets on Ash and TK, making sure they fit comfortably. As that discussion occurred, Winry found Diego and rushed over to him.

"Hey, Diego!" she called out. Diego turned to Winry on the approach while Alphonse and Edward were fixated on seeing this duel between Ash and TK, along with the rest who wanted to circle around, alongside some Piantas and Toads.

"Winry, what's up?" the host asked.

"I need your help on something to do with Ed. See, Ed hates milk. I've ridiculed him, plenty of people had ridiculed him because he's… short for someone his age." Diego listened, willing to help Winry. That's when he plotted an idea.

"I have a plan. Follow me." Both Diego and Winry headed back to the hotel and to the kitchen. Diego opened the fridge and pulled out a gallon of milk and a tin bottle labeled "CHUCKOLA COLA." He also grabbed tall cups and a funnel. He twisted the Cola open and poured the soda into the cups before sealing in plastic wrap. He reached the sink to rinse the rest of the content. He then grabbed a pipe cleaner and dry towel to remove the water. After that, Diego placed the funnel on the top. "Can you get the ice trays in the freezer?" Winry opened the door above the fridge and found three ice trays.

"How many?"

"Two will be enough." Nodding, Winry pulled two of the ice trays as Diego poured milk down the bottle through the funnel. He recapped the bottle and put it in a bucket which Winry poured the ice. "And it's ready." He carried the bottle of disguised milk back outside. The duel between Ash and TK grew as TK had "1550" reading on his armlet. He also had two cards in a hologram face down. One creature was a white winged centaur in blue armor and holding a blue and gold shield in one hand and a sword in the other. Another was a man in an orange robe with a blue cloak. Ash had "1600" on his armlet. He had a giant gray rat and three face down cards, one turned sideways.

"Alright, Ash!" the blond grinned. "I know you have Giant Rat and one face down in defense mode. So I'll use Airknight Parshath to attack that face down!" The centaur raced in and the face down card emerged as a red, bone-made wall with a demonic redhead man's head inside. The centaur sliced the demonic wall, destroying it and Ash's counter lost 50, now down to "1550."

"Thanks for running into my Wall of Illusion," he exclaimed. "I'll lose it thanks to your Banisher of the Light, but your Airknight goes back to your hand." Airknight disappeared which TK put in his hand full of cards. Winry grew giddy to seeing holograms of the monsters in play. She tried to rush in but Chad and Rachel held her back. Diego found Edward and delivered his surprise.

"Hey, Edward," he greeted. Edward turned to Diego curious.

"What is it?" he wondered before looking to the drink in the bucket.

"Saw you looking a little parched so I got you something to help." Edward looked at the bottle, shaking it.

"Chuckola Cola? Can't say I've seen it before." Diego left to reunite with Winry. "This should be good." He soon drank it and the sudden taste made him gag. He coughed and spit the milk out. He wasn't pleased. "What the hell! I hate this milk! Why did he give me this crap?!" While Edward looked for Diego, Ash used a dog in a red ninja outfit slash a brown centaur with the man-half holding a red scepter. The moon behind the dog started to fade as TK's counter fell from "150" to zero against Ash's counter of "425." Cheers for Ash erupted as Kuriko and Kari came over to praise Ash for his win.

"That was incredible, Ash!" the blond congratulated. "Impressive use of Nin-Ken Dog and Mystical Moon!"

"Thanks, and I actually had some fun!" Looking on, TK felt Kari didn't see him in the same light as Ash.

"I hate to say it but I think Tai's sister's preferring him," Patamon weighed in. However, the two stood back and faced each one's eyes.

"Don't you think you're a little old for him?" snapped Kari.

"Big deal if I'm more mature than him or you!" responded Kuriko. "I know what I want! You can't deny it from me!"

"I can and I will in a duel! You and me!"

"Bring it, little girl!" TK and Yami watched in awe between the two.

"That… was fast…" gulped TK.

"Looks like we have ourselves another duel on hand," Yami bobbed. "Let's get them setup." As Kari and Kuriko geared themselves for their duel, Edward reached Diego talking to Winry, the secret out. He suspected Diego didn't do this alone.

"Dammit, Winry!" he yelled. "Why are you forcing me to drink that vomit?!" Diego backed away, wanting no involvement with the two.

"Let me put it this way, Ed!" she growled. "Kids here have or will grow by the time they're your age! Hell, I'm taller than you right now!"

"That's nothing! I'm like this no thanks to the auto-mail!"

"And who's fault is that?! If you knew the risk doing that forbidden alchemy, you and Al wouldn't be in this predicament!" Chad snagged both heads and lifted them, stopping the argument.

"Enjoy the vacation," he sternly warned. "Not each other's throats. Understand?" Fearing Chad's hands crushing their skulls, the two nodded. Another duel occurred. Kari had control of a woman with black wings and wearing a strapless yellow gown. She wielded a staff. She also had another woman with white wings and ruby armor. Kuriko had two girls in different gowns and headgear: the blond wearing black with rabbit ears and a pink-haired in white with a lamb for a hat.

"My Dark Witch attacks your Pikeru!" ordered Kari. The black wings charged forward to attack the pink-haired girl. With a swipe, the pink-haired became pieces. Another duel had Serena battling May. The brunette had a muscular woman in blue tattered cloth bash the blond's redhead in tiger striped clothes and drums. Duels had everyone participating, even Yami who faced Ichigo. Yami had a man in a purple cloak facing Ichigo's red shadowy figure with purple claws.

"That wasn't expected but I understand Despair from the Dark," Yami complimented.

"Thanks, it means something," Ichigo returned. "Now, Despair! Take out his Dark Magician!" The shadowy figure raced in with his claws. Yami smiled.

"It's over, Ichigo," he grinned. "I activate… Reinforcements!" A trap card emerged with knights running in. "My Dark Magician gains an additional 500 Attack points, bringing it to 3,000!" Dark Magician spun his scepter before pointing it at Despair. "Now, Dark Magic Attack!" Dark Magician blasted Despair to pieces and Ichigo's score fell from "200" to nothing. "This duel… is over." The holograms faded and Ichigo stood to thank Yami.

"I learned a lot today, and I doubt I'm alone."

"I've seen potential in all of us who played the game today, even the youngest who dueled. Maybe next time, we can learn from Ash and May." The sun began to set for the night when the girls saw something on the cork board.

"Spa treatment?!" shrieked a giddy Rachel. "I can save casino time until tomorrow!"

"Right, I wanna do this as well!" cheered Yuna.

"If I can present myself for Professor Negi, count me in," Nodoka offered. One more wanted to see this as Rini tugged on Serena's dress. Serena looked down to the pink-haired girl.

"Hey, Serena?" she called. "Can I get this spa treatment? I want to do it for Max." Serena seemed surprised with Rini's request.

"I don't know…" she muttered. "It may be too much…" Rini was about to cry when Kagome knelt to help her.

"Of course you can join us with this treatment," she offered. Kari and Rachel nodded to inviting Rini to the spa treatment. While the girls had their treatment, Elie, Joey and Ryoko were at the slot machines. They paid coins before pulling the levers.

"Come on…" Ryoko hoped. One came up a flower, another came up a flower… but the last came up a star. "No!" Elie patted Ryoko on the shoulder.

"Relax, it's nothing out of our pockets," she reassured. Ryoko sighed, still wanting to win. Suddenly, alarms rang.

"Ha ha!" cheered Joey. He spun three "7s" from one pull. "JACKPOT!" Ryoko and Elie looked to find the winning slot machine. Coins rained from the chute. Ryoko floated and put Joey in a headlock before scrubbing his scalp with her knuckles.

"Way to go, Joseph!" she praised. Elie came up and kissed him on the cheek, her peck held for a while.

"I keep this up, I may wanna stay here with you!" Meanwhile, the spa treatment for the girls started with Piantas applying cream to the girls' faces. Nokis and Toads filed and painted finger and toe nails. Towels wrapped their heads while each wore robes.

"This is… a lot," mentioned Rini.

"Just wait," Kuriko advised. "It gets better from here. It's not the same as back home, though."

"Well, it's the first time I've been in something like this," Madison chuckled. "Some of us haven't had this luxury." With everything for the girls at the spa, the boys were in the dining hall where Shū made dinner with TK's help. The creatures chose to be with the boys for food. His supper made, TK sat with Ash and Max.

"That was a fun day, today," he huffed. Kazuki also joined the group.

"What's going on?" asked Max.

"Well, I wanted to talk to Ash about Kuriko," Kazuki started. Ash had a feeling about Kuriko but had to ask.

"Isn't she the one who brought you and Yuna here?" he guessed.

"She is." A few of the creatures came to the table. "Kuriko's been acting strange since we came to the island. Normally, she's planning on getting Yuna away to flirt with me and to take my genes." TK blinked but had a guess.

"Genes, as in DNA?" he believed.

"Yeah, it's a long story about my family lineage, but that's not important. It's just… Ash, is there anything you did to get Kuriko's attention?" Ash began to think about Kazuki's question. Max had to butt in to help Ash.

"Knowing him after sometime traveling around Hoenn," he started. "Ash wouldn't know about getting any attention aside from competing in any Pokémon League." Ash would bop Max for the tease, but he felt Max being right.

"Can't argue that statement," he mulled. "I'm sure there's a reason Kuriko wants me. It's kinda odd." TK and Kazuki nodded, agreeing with the odd point. Tenchi, overhearing the talk, patted Ash on the shoulder.

"Hey, at least you don't have four women after you," he assured. "You have any idea how much of a nightmare that would be?" Ash, Max and TK giggled to Tenchi's dilemma.

"I was gonna say," TK opened up. "Not only Kuriko but my friend, Kari." Ash gasped a little before bowing.

"I am not here to take your friend away," he promised. To TK, it wasn't a big deal.

"That's okay. In all honesty, you're a better choice than Davis."

"Really?" Negi also came by, willing to have a say in this.

"I have a classroom of girls willing to have me with them, Sir Tenchi," he scoffed. "I'm still young but it's nice to know of a few who would love me despite being their teacher." The group discussed more as the girls returned from the spa. Before anyone had suggestions… blood-curdling screams echoed through the hotel.

" **Was that the girls?!"** realized Alphonse

"Let's go check!" urged Patamon. Everyone raced to their rooms. Haru and Musica reached their room to find it empty.

"Right, Elie's in the casino!" reminded Musica. Elie arrived with Ryoko and Joey.

"We heard screams!" she huffed.

"What's going on?" wondered Joey.

"Not sure," Haru shrugged. "We heard screams like you did." Amy began to cry, having everyone run to Rachel's room.

"What's the matter?" questioned Yami. Rachel, hugging Amy, turned to those asking.

"Our underwear!" she brought up. "It's been stolen!" May came out to see Ash and her brother.

"The underwear's missing from my luggage!" she cried. Elie emerged from her room and confronted the boys.

"It's no coincidence!" she started. "My underwear's gone and so are others like Serena's and Serenity's." This disturbed the men and boys.

"Someone's pilfered the girls' panties!" Edward growled. Darrien took charge.

"Let's get everyone into the dining room," he ordered. Everyone was escorted to the dining room and Shū headed to the kitchen to make desserts for the girls. Ash and Conan stayed behind to investigate.

' _All but two of the girls have been at the spa when the pilfering occurred,'_ a voice from within Conan studied, remembering Ryoko and Elie were with Joey in the casino. _'I did a head count of everyone from Ash to Li to even Alphonse. I'll find out who did this to Rachel and Amy, as well as all the girls. One truth prevails.'_ Ash pondered to finding a scent.

"Whoever did this acted recently," he pondered. "So the scent's still fresh." Pikachu nodded to this point. "Pikachu, try sniffing around for any trace." Conan gawked to the idea.

"Pikachu?" he shrieked.

"Yeah, Pikachu's sniffed out plenty of stuff before." Conan sighed to the idea, but it did spark the voice inside to consider the ploy.

' _Ash, it's brilliant!'_ he minded. _'But we need a better nose for the job, a dog for example.'_ That's when the voice recalled a dog within the hotel.

"Den?!" yelled Conan. Den barked as she reached the boys. Ash saw Den and agreed.

"Hey, Den," he called over. "We need your help. See if you can sniff out who took your master's underwear." Den barked before sniffing around room after room with Pikachu. Their scent grew, closing in on their suspect.

"We're getting warmer…" They reached one closed door where Den growled.

"In there?" Ash opened the door and found a hill of women's and girls' underwear while the ermine seemed to be playing inside.

"The scent's so invigorating…" he awed. "I'm not sure which to pick out. This one? Or this one?" Ash, Pikachu, Conan and Den found their suspect.

"How about any of the men?" The ermine jumped when found out by the four.

"So, you took advantage of the girls going to the spa and stealing undergarments for your pleasure?" suspected Conan. The ermine dashed out of the room.

"You can't take me alive!" he yelled. To Ash, that wasn't an option.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he commanded. Pikachu fired a massive stream of electricity and tagged the ermine, zapping it. Stunned, Ash grabbed the ermine by the scruff.

"Let's see you weasel out of this," Conan mocked. The ermine wasn't pleased too much.

"Smart kid, having 'weasel' as a verb," he groaned. In the kitchen, everyone watched Ash and Conan enter with Pikachu and Den.

"Did you find out who took our panties?" a worried Miharu wondered.

"We did one better," Ash announced as he held the ermine up. Negi and Nodoka realized who it was.

"It's Chamo!" gawked Nodoka. Negi sighed to Chamo's actions.

"This is what happens when, after being told over and over, you're told to behave and you don't," he frowned. Chamo scoffed, bringing out a cigarette.

"Come on, bro!" he urged. "I'm here to help strengthen that magic of yours. I'm relying on scent among these girls to see which ones-AH!" Chamo stopped when Ash ripped the cigarette away from him.

"This is a non-smoking hotel," he explained. Diego appeared to see the commotion.

"This little runt's the cause of the problems?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "This is serious. I have three ways to deal with you. I could shoot you from the hotel's cannon to a faraway island; I could turn you into a chew toy for the Chain Complets for a day thanks to a Magikoopa wand I have in the "Lost and Found;" or I could replace that fur with tar and feathers." Three choices and the girls huddled up.

"Didn't think we'd be unanimous about it," Rebecca agreed. "Let's go with that." The girls broke the huddled, a decision made. Kagome came forward.

"Diego, here's what we've decided," she started. What awaits Chamo's fate?

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…

(That's for you to decide. What should Chamo face for his crime? Go onto my poll and the punishment will be decided after the next One-Piece chapter and a wedding one-shot.)


	8. Blooper Reels

_Chapter 8: Blooper Reels_

* * *

The moment of judgment for Chamo. The girls, victims of the ermine's malicious behavior, decided on a punishment for the convicted creature. "Let's see how you fare as a chew toy," Kagome answered. Diego nodded while Chamo shrieked at the thought. Diego saluted the decision with his hand on the side of his forehead, the palm perpendicular to his face.

"Chew toy it is," he acknowledged. "Ryoko, I could use a hand in keeping this weasel restrained." Feeling insulted, Chamo lashed out to Diego.

"I'm an ermine!" he snapped.

"I know you're an ermine, I'm referring to your actions." Ryoko came forward and grabbed Chamo by the neck. Diego dashed off while Chamo struggled to free himself. Diego came back with a gold wand with a ruby inside. "How did that spell go again? A La Peanut Butter Sandwiches?" Almost all of the vacationers collapsed at the thought. "Right, I should know better." Finally, Diego waived the wand in a circle before firing a ray that hit Chamo. A few seconds later, Diego stopped the chant before Ryoko released to see Chamo not move a muscle. The ermine's now a plush doll but it wasn't dead.

"This is animal cruelty! My lawyers will want to hear about this!"

"Relax. Not only are you awfully tough but you're also fireproof."

"Wait- What! What do you mean I'm fireproof?!"

"You'll see." Diego departed with the stiff Chamo. As he left to give Chamo's punishment, Kari, Kuriko, Amy, Rachel, Rini and Serenity reached Ash and Conan with hugs.

"Thank you, Ash!" praised Serenity. Kari sneaked in with a kiss to the cheek.

"You can take his cheek, Kari," Kuriko sneered. "His lips belong to me." Proving the point, she kissed Ash on the lips.

"Kuriko!" shrieked Kagome. Amy clasped Conan's head and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Conan!" she praised.

"That was Jimmy-esque, Conan," Rachel joked before she kissed him on the forehead. Kagome joined Conan where she hugged him. A lot of the girls gave Ash and Conan love, including Serenity who kissed the two on the nose. Ryoko, Yuna and May didn't participate in the offering of love.

"If it were left to me," Ryoko started. "I would've sliced that weasel to ribbons." Diego reached a fenced area which iron balls conjoined with spike collars hovered to meet Diego, The iron balls had big eyes and jaws with large serrated teeth.

"Hey, how are the Chomplets doing?" he asked. The iron balls barked. "That's good to hear. By the way, you've got something to play with." The Chomplets barked happily before Diego chucked Chamo inside.

"Oh, crap!" he cried. He landed and unable to move, Chamo felt the bites and chomps of the living iron balls. "Don't leave me!" Disagreeing, Diego hopped back in the jeep before leaving. He soon returned to Hotel Delfino where Negi, Joey and Tenchi saw him.

"Will Chamo be okay?" asked the redhead.

"He's fine," Diego scoffed. "Besides, it'll be easier to take the Chomplets over what the girls would be doing."

"Ryoko, Elie and Kuriko for sure," Tenchi mentioned. Joey glanced to Ash and Conan having their faces cleaned by May and Yuna.

"Of course, you missed the barrage of girls rewarding the two junior detectives," Joey joked. Yuna looked up to see Diego.

"Is Chamo being punished?" she asked. Diego nodded to the question. Max snickered to the method.

"Knowing what he turned that weasel of an ermine, I'm saying he's getting his just desserts," he grinned. Pikachu squeaked to agree. That's when Rini came forward.

"Max?" she called out. Max and Pikachu turned to see Rini, her little body now wearing a white swimsuit. Her toenails and fingernails polished and painted a shiny neon pink. "Wh- What do you think?" Pikachu awed Rini's look. Max stuttered to find an answer. May came to her brother in hopes of encouragement.

"You know, she did it for you!" she teased. Max gawked to the purpose.

"It, uh… It suits you," he struggled to answer. Happy, Rini hugged Max.

"Thank you!" she cheered. Everyone watching smiled to the moment, until Joey yawned.

"Well, that was more eventful than necessary," he groaned. "Diego, anyplace we're going tomorrow?"

"As a matter of fact, Neo said he'd be taking you to Ricco Harbor tomorrow." Everyone chose to head to sleep for the night. The next day, the Wiggler Bus had a new driver in Neo. Within an hour, everyone arrived in a harbor where there's construction equipment protruding from the ocean below.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" wondered Nodoka.

"It's all good," Neo assured. "Not only are there shops but there are Bloopers you can ride on and even a Blooper School to learn." Ash came to the edge of the harbor to see for himself.

"So, they're underwater somewhere?" he questioned.

"As a matter of fact, Bloopers can even fly." The vacationers glared to the sky in hopes of finding Bloopers. That's when a small turtle riding a cloud with a smiling face came down from the sky.

"Is that one of the Bloopers?" asked Edward. Neo spotted the turtle and shook his head.

"No, that's a Lakitu. Most of these Lakitus are part of King Bowser's minions but there are some who are free to fly anywhere." The Lakitu nodded to the description.

"I got wind that people like Mario were visiting, but I guess they're… a little young for that," he told. "So, how many have ridden boards before?" A few of the boys rose their hands. "I see… Well, I think we can have a Blooper Race, no sweat." The vacationers blinked when they haven't seen one. Suddenly, something splashed from the water, bringing a lot of the creatures to see it. What emerged was a yellow triangle cone with eyes inside black.

"What… is that?" gulped Shippo. More of the cones emerged, some pink, some more yellow, some green and some white. They all came out of the water, bodies of squids emerging.

"The Bloopers and Blooper Racers," Neo identified. "They've been a nuisance in the Mushroom Kingdom but some have helped out, even making a sport about it." Ash saw the Blooper Racers and decided to try racing.

"It's been awhile since I surfed," he sneered. "I kinda miss it…" He shed his shoes and shirt and jumped into the water. Others watched as Ash emerged and started surfing on a pink Blooper. It appeared like Ash was gliding on water. "Yahoo!" Seeing the fun Ash began to have, the guys seemed highly interested.

"That looks like fun!" chuckled Musica. "Let's join!" TK, Kazuki, Joey, Ichigo, Darrien, Li and Tenchi leaped into the water and gathered themselves different colored Blooper Racers: Ash, Joey and Musica rode Pink; Ichigo, Darrien and TK had Yellow; and Tenchi, Li and Kazuki rode the Green. Buoys scattered around the steel of each pipe to show the course with arrows. Lakitu gathered the racers at the starting line.

"Here's how it goes," he began. "The course will be around the towers which make up the harbor. Stay within the buoys and follow each arrow pointing to which side. There will be five laps to complete for there to be a winner. Got all that?" The racers nodded. Lakitu brought out a traffic light. "Let the race begin!" One red light flashed. Then, another. One more red light flickered on. Finally, all three red lights turned green… and they're off! They sped out of the gate and the other vacationers cheered on who they supported. On the first right turn, Li watched Ash shift his body slightly back and to the right to make the Blooper Racer turn right. He copied Ash's body posture and stayed close to the leader. Others also copied Ash but Kazuki turned too sharply and tried to correct himself from sailing off-track.

"Kazuki!" cried Yuna. As they began to slalom around the giant steel girders, Rachel wondered about having another racer.

"I wonder if Jimmy would do this race," she thought. Conan displayed a deadpan look.

' _Don't… even… go there, Rachel,'_ the voice inside minded. _'I'm a detective, not a surfer.'_ Before finishing the first lap, Kazuki had another sharp turn too soon and hit the buoy, and his face slammed into the sign. Unconscious, he fell into the drink. Yuna flew over to Kazuki and, with Kuriko's help, pulled him out before he drowned. Ash completed the first lap with TK and Joey close behind. Haru had a camcorder on record the race. Joey slipped to find an opening to pass Ash and didn't wait. He sped past Ash.

"Joey's in the lead!" cheered Serenity.

"Yes, but for how long?" questioned Yami. On a turn, Joey leaned forward and to his left to pass a buoy. His Blooper Racer wasn't responding to the turn as quickly as possible and began to panic. He leaned far back and banked in Ash's path, a crash impending.

"Oh no…" he gulped before Ash kicked up the Blooper Racer and sailed over Joey with a backflip while tucking his body and grabbing the squid by the side. He landed and proceeded on. TK circled around a gawking Joey. "Okay, you don't learn that in surfing class. I'm not going to be upstaged." Joey resumed the race after Darrien passed. Ash led into the third lap with TK and Darrien not far behind. Musica began to speed for the lead like Joey. Passing Darrien and TK, Musica eyed the lead.

This is a lot more fun than I believe, and even more when I win," he sneered. Finally, he found a wake to ride on and zoomed toward the lead. Elie cheered hard with Plue for Musica while Haru continued to film. "Excuse me!" Ash watched as he plotted his move while Musica taunted him with a salute… while leaning his body toward the heavy metal. Ash ignored him before he turned to find a girder in his face. "Dammit!" He smashed face-first into the steel beam. His body froze with his arms and legs outstretched. Those on shore either cringed, jumped and/or looked away.

"That had to hurt!" cringed Haru. "And I got that on video!" Two racers out. Joey neared Ash after passing TK. Li, Darrien, Tenchi and Ichigo maintained a good distance. Lap four. Joey swung to the outside lane in a plan to swoop to the inside. Yami saw a problem with Joey's move.

"Joey, fall back!" he shouted. A wave from far off-shore came toward the island. Joey never saw the wave as he set himself to pass Ash.

"Here I come!" he warned. Ash spotted the wave and swung to the outside. Joey believed Ash gave him an opening. "Thank you!" However, he overlooked the wake which caught his six. Joey jostled a little before the wave clipped his heels, knocking him into the drink. He resurfaced before the other racers passed by. Lakitu brought out a white flag. To some, they didn't know what it meant.

"What's up with that flag?" asked Amy.

"It's the final lap," Chad answered. First to see the white flag was Ash, then TK and Darrien in third. Wide turns led Ash to lose ground and TK neared neck-and-neck.

"You may have beat me in Duel Monsters but this race is mine!" proclaimed TK before leaning forward and speeding away. The cheers boomed in volume as Toads, Piantas and Nokis cheered for the racers. Through the course, Ash and TK jockeyed for the finish line. Unaware of other racers, Darrien came flying from behind and using the wakes to his advantage. He sped to crashing wakes and flew over the two competitors. Ash and TK gasped at Darrien's risk. Both soon recovered and chased Darrien going around the last turn. Lakitu had a black and white checkered flag on hand.

" **Here they come!"** announced Alphonse. Darrien led but zooming fast was Ash and TK. Kari readied her camera at the finish line as Haru continued to film.

"This is gonna be close!" he believed. The next few seconds felt like minutes as Ash, Darrien and TK crossed the finish line at practically the same time. Lakitu waived the flag to signal the end of the race as the others crossed the finish line. The three leading surfers slowed down and fell to the water softly. Meeting, each gave another a high-five. They swam to the shores and helped by the Blooper Racers before Edward made a brilliant transmutation: turning the wall into a ladder for the racers to climb out.

"That was a photo finish!" snickered Rebecca. "Who won?"

"I agree wholeheartedly," Rachel nodded. "That was too close to call." Kari came forward with her camera on hand and a hand-held device. Using a cord, she connected the two.

"I think I got the photo finish right here!" she believed. Winry nearly drooled at the device in hand. The picture of the finish line had Darrien barely ahead of Ash and TK who started to cross at the same time. Viewing it himself, Haru nodded.

"Thanks to the camcorder Neo loaned me for the race, I agree," he surveyed. "Darrien is the winner." Excited, Serena and Rini piled and hugged Darrien for his victory. TK and Ash shook Darrien's hand for a great race.

"That move at the end was on me," Ash admitted. "I shouldn't have tried to turn while going that fast."

"Hey, you still gave me quite a run at the end," Darrien complimented. "I knew I would have fun but winning a race like that?" Serena gave the winner a kiss to the lips. With the seas settled, those who finished the race helped the girls and the younger kids with riding Bloopers and Blooper Racers. Ryoko watched from above while Tenchi taught Sasami and Shippo on the green Blooper Racers. Some of the vacationers like Yukinari, Yuna and Negi had no coordination to maintaining balance and constantly fell off the Blooper Racers. Others like Elie, Chad and Winry had no problem. Everyone who could get in the water had fun.

"I don't know about you, Al," Edward started. "But could you imagine how we could do on those racing squids with our real bodies and not in a suit of armor or auto-mail?" Alphonse started to laugh.

" **I'd be fine but you, Ed,"** he snickered. **"You'd be struggling to keep yourself level."** Edward growled to the picturing of Alphonse. Meantime, Gatomon had Kari over by a Pianta fisherman. He had different fish on sale including a rainbow fish and some round fish with wings.

"Well, Kari?" the cat Digimon purred. "Can I get both?" Kari looked to the fish on ice.

"Gatomon, I can get one right now," she tried to reason. Overhearing, Ash and Pikachu came to the situation.

"Something fishy over here?" he joked. Kari and Gatomon saw the two approaching.

"Good one, Ash. Gatomon wanted a pair of fish to eat. Thing is… I only brought enough to get one." Pikachu heard the problem and squeaked to Ash for help.

("We got a good amount of coins from the race,") he pointed out. ("Let's pitch in!") Ash nodded to the idea.

"Here," he offered a pouch. The pouch had a gold coin on it. "It's a little prize from the race TK and I narrowly lost. I'm sure it's enough for that second fish she wants." Kari opened the pouch offered. A nod and a snicker, Kari accepted the prize.

"Thanks, Ash," she praised. "You too, Pikachu." The mouse squeaked in acceptance. Pikachu's aid prompted Gatomon's interest by climbing onto Ash's free shoulder.

"I feel like you wanted to help me with this as soon as you saw it," she mewed. "Say, would you want to spend a night with me? And with Kari, TK and Patamon?" To Kari, Gatomon wasn't asking the right person.

"Don't you think we should ask his owner rather than Pikachu himself?" Rather than listen to Kari, Pikachu squeaked to the offer, interested. He hopped into Kari's arms to join.

"I don't like to argue with my buddy," Ash huffed. "And it looks like he's accepted the offer." Kari scratched Pikachu's ears to his delight.

"I promise to watch him tonight. Who knows, I may let you do the same with Gatomon." The fisherman took the coin pouches and gave Kari the fish. The sun began to set on the day. Neo drove the Wiggler Bus back to Hotel Delfino. Pete retrieved Chamo from the Chain Chomplets' den.

"Man, when Diego said I was fireproof, I didn't know why until I felt the heat from those steel dogs," Chamo spoke, his body back to normal. "I'm starting to wonder about if I did it again, Diego wouldn't be as merciful." Pete scoffed to Chamo's ordeal.

"If you _do_ what Degs said you did again, the punishment's gonna be a lot worse," he warned. "Trust me." Pete returned Chamo to Negi's room with the warning on the ermine's mind. At nightfall, Pikachu slept in the room with the Digidestined and Digimon as he snuggled with Gatomon. Another night wrapped up on Isle Deflino.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	9. Shopping is Coconuts

_Chapter 9: Shopping is Coconuts_

* * *

It's a new day for the vacationers but not fast for the Digidestined and Pikachu. Snuggled in bed with Kari and Gatomon, Pikachu didn't want to wake. Shū came to the kitchen before seeing a note. "Coconut Mall, huh?" he read. When he opened the door, Yuna and Sasami cooked breakfast inside.

"That's creepy, Yuna," Sasami gulped. "Isn't Kurkio a bit old for Ash? I mean… if it was left to me, I wouldn't mind hanging out with him, or Rebecca or Kari or Madison."

"Tell me about it," Yuna gulped. "I see her better with Chad or Darrien or even Yugi's new look. Although, I could look at it as her giving up on Kazuki… Just because he has these so-called genes Doctor Akai says he has." Overhearing this, Shū decided to speak up about it.

"Genes?" he repeated. Yuna and Sasami turned to find Shū entering.

"Hey. Shū! Sorry, were we a little loud?"

"Nah, I just have bad timing. Although, you do sound somewhat upset about… whatever you two discussed."

"Not upset," Sasami wanted to clarify. "More worried about Kuriko going after Ash." Shū blinked before remembering one of those moments.

"You mean like at Gelato Beach when she tackled him underwater?" The girls nodded. "Boy, why not me? Am I not good enough?" Sasami and Yuna tapped Shū on the shoulders.

"Don't say that!" the pink-haired urged. "I'm sure someone likes you on his island." Shū nodded, not letting this setback hinder him.

"Good point… Now, let's make breakfast!" The girls agreed before continuing to work in the kitchen. The mid-morning summoned the Wiggler Bus. This made the group wonder who's driving today.

"I bet Pete's driving again, resetting the routine," Edward guessed. Opening the door to the Wiggler Bus, Diego's in the driver seat.

"Diego!?" gawked Kazuki. " _You're_ taking us to the Mall?"

"I am," he nodded. "You guys have your prepaid coin cards?" All wove white cards like credit cards. "Okay! Hop on!" All boarded the Wiggler Bus and Diego put the metal to the pedal. While riding, plenty wondered about their destination.

" **Guys?"** spoke Alphonse. **"I don't know what a mall looks like!"** Edward and Winry gulped at the realization of Alphonse's discovery.

"Relax, Al!" assured Winry. "When we see this mall, we'll know what one looks like."

"Yeah, you don't have to panic," Edward added. "Besides, we may find something for May." Thinking she heard her name, May turned to the Elrics.

"Wait, you want to get something for me?" she guessed. The brothers gawked in the botched identification.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! I meant May Chang. She's about as young as Shippo!" May balked, realizing it wasn't about her.

"I-I see. Sorry for the confusion." After an hour of driving brought the group to a large complex with a gate reading "Coconut Mall." Diego parked the Wiggler Bus. Everyone filed out to get a good look at the mall's entrance.

"Whoa, it's as big as a stadium!" awed Ash.

"Like a soccer stadium?" questioned Conan. TK and Kari laughed.

"Nice one, little man," InuYasha snickered. They entered the mall where they saw two stories of stores. Plenty of areas to shop around.

"Still, it's pretty impressive for a mall," Tenchi admired.

"Fun little information to share," Diego started. "This and Sunshine Airport are two of the venues of Mario Kart Racing." All gawked to the young man's statement.

"Kart… Racing?" repeated Rachel.

"Don't worry, it's organized to make sure no one but the racers got hurt. Heard the next event in either spot is in two months."

"Plenty of time for us to leave once the two weeks are done," Ichigo studied. Elie decided to start by siding with Joey.

"You're with me, roller boy!" she chose before dragging the blond duelist.

"Whoa, hold on!" he gulped. "Where are we going?" Haru gulped as he watched Elie whisk the Wheeler boy away.

"This can't still be about the battle we had a few days ago," InuYasha groaned.

"Would you blame us?" scorned Kagome before she approached TK. "Come on!" TK gulped while Kagome snatched Patamon and proceeded.

"I wouldn't mind it being Nancy, but Kagome?" the winged Digimon irked. As TK pursued Kagome and Patamon, Orihime reached Musica.

"So do you play music like your name implies?" she asked while pulling Musica away.

"Well, how do I put this?" he pondered. As those two left, the three brawlers tried to understand how long their rebuttal of their beach fight will last.

"Great, Elie left Haru for Joey," Ichigo studied with a groan. "Kagome left InuYasha for TK and Orihime left me for Musica."

"How long are they punishing us for?" whined Haru. Kuriko turned to Ash but Pikachu stood in his place as Kuriko took Ash by flight. Rini and Amy spotted a store on the first floor and wanted to gather the little boys as well.

"Conan!" yelled Amy. "Max! Sasami!"

"Shippo!" copied Rini. "Pikachu! This way!" The girls started to run to "COCO BAKERY" before the rest of the little kids followed. This sight gave Rachel an idea.

"Someone needs to keep an eye on the kids," she sneered before grabbing Ichigo's arm. "And you're helping me!"

"Wait!" yelped Ichigo. "What the hell!" Rachel dragged Ichigo toward the same bakery. Having lost TK to Kagome, Kari decided to get back at her.

"InuYasha, let's go together," she insisted. InuYasha blinked to Kari's request.

"Where to, kid?" he asked as he followed the brunette. Now Haru wondered who would accompany him.

"Ichigo's taken by Rachel," he started. "InuYasha's taken by Kari… who's left, Serena?" Unfortunately, May stepped forward.

"Well, not quite," she denied. "I can go with." Other pairings had Yukinari and Miharu, Kazuki and Yuna, Rebecca and Negi, Shū and Nodoka, Tenchi and Ryoko, Serena and Darrien, Serenity and Chad, Sakura and Li, Winry and Edward and Madison and Alphonse. Each shopped around the different departments from Coco Outfitters where a lot of the women came to shop to Coconut Garden to see the botanical plants which awed Serenity and Nodoka. Beauty Maniac brought eager to Serena, Kuriko and Elie. Lady Coco had Kuriko bring Ash and Rachel bring Ichigo to gather a lot of women's apparel.

"What do you think, Ash?" asked Kuriko as she modeled a pink heart-shaped sling swimsuit. Ash's face became bright red at the sight.

"They seriously have those?" gawekd Rachel. "Anymore for when I show it to Jimmy when I get back home?" Kuriko tried several more to her approval. TK and Kagome found themselves at Delfino Dream which had different colored spotted mushrooms with eyes.

"I'm not a gamer like you or your brother from the first night," admitted Kagome. "But are these mushrooms commonplace?"

"They are," TK replied. "The red ones are Super Mushrooms which allow anyone to become their Super forms and get stronger. Green mushrooms give extra lives if you were to die, though I… haven't regarded doing that myself."

"No kidding." Passing by, Conan overheard TK's explanation, wondering if it would work for him.

' _A Super Mushroom?'_ the voice inside heard. _'It would be a great substitute for alcohol. I still remember how Harley forced me to drink it and I became me again. Could a Super Mushroom help me return to my former glory and get Rachel's attention?'_ The women and girls shopped till… their partners began to drop. Each partner carried loads of merchandise in their arms. Ash carried the most among the men, even more than InuYasha.

"I think we've exhausted the cards for today," Kuriko huffed as she wiped her forehead. "Saw a lot of stuff I wanted. I wonder if the princess headed designs for these? It makes me more than willing to meet her." Ash could barely move while trying not to drop anything in his arms and while they're wrapped in bag handles. Kari saw the pair and realized Ash's peril while InuYasha carried her items.

"Miko, huh?" he heard beforehand. "I wonder if it's anything like Buyo?" Kari turned to see InuYasha incoming.

"Wait up, InuYasha," she called before sprinting to Ash's side. InuYasha stopped as Kari clasped Ash on the shoulders. Hearing the stop, Kuriko turned to see Kari grabbing some of the blond's purchases. "I gotcha!" Kuriko wasn't happy with Kari's interference.

"Hey!" she snapped. "Find your own man, Kari!"

"I won't force someone to overload their arms in so much merchandise!"

"Not my fault there's so much to see and bring home to the Academy." Ignoring, Kari scooped a handful from Ash's straining arms. Kuriko puffed her cheeks, thinking Kari's stealing Ash. Meanwhile, Edward and Winry rested on a table which was near a booth.

"Man, all these tools…" he groaned.

"Come on, Ed," Winry urged. Looking behind her, she saw a stand called "MOO MOO CAFE." A sneer came to her face. "Let me get something to drink." Edward became suspicious especially since the day everyone learned about Duel Monsters. Looking back, he saw the stand.

"Not agai-" He stopped when he found not just Coconut milk on the menu but almond milk as well. "You know, if I tried that almond milk, it's fine." Winry balked to the request.

"Yeah, I'm inkling to try Coconut milk, myself." Chad and Serenity arrived to see the amount of merchandise Winry picked up.

"So what did Winry pick up?" asked the brunette young woman.

"A couple hardware stores where I think she got every tool," Edward explained. "What about you?"

"Nothing too egregious," Chad started. "Found binders at Fun Flower and cleaners for her Duel Disk. She also went grocery shopping, saying she wants to learn from Shū and Miharu."

"Her food is something to get my hands on and I want to learn from them for when I get back to Domino City to give Duke, Tristan and Téa to try," Serenity admitted. Winry darted her head to Chad and fluffed a nod. To Chad, Winry had an idea.

"They must be popular for coconut milk and almond milk to be pretty affordable," Winry lied. "I got an iced latte." She placed the cup in front of Edward.

"First time I've tried this," he started before realizing a scent. "Oh no! You're gonna make me drink-"

"Chad!" On cue, Chad grabbed Edward in a headlock. Serenity jumped back and gasped before Winry poured the latte into Edward's mouth. "Lid it!" Chad's big palms kept Edward from spitting the latte out. Edward fought to breathe. Unable to use his mouth, he breathed through his nose. Forced, he swallowed every drop of the latte. "Okay, Chad. It's gone." Chad released his grip. Edward began to breathe through his mouth again. "Well, Ed?" Edward wiped his lips before giving Winry a frightening stare.

"I'll get you back for that cheap shot!" Serenity shook her head to the ordeal.

"If it will make Ed feel better…" she stammered. "I'll get him a latte _with_ the almond milk." A few hours of shopping later, Diego watched the men and boys put all the bought merchandise in the Wiggler Bus before the women entered. The Wiggler Bus reached Hotel Delfino. Like before, the male vacationers brought the merchandise in for the young women. With everything unloaded, the men entered the dining hall, their arms red and worn, lying palms up on the table.

"So much to carry…" Negi groaned.

"I know," Darrien muttered. Yami wondered a theory.

"I don't know if…" he began. "He'll be fine…" Yami's puzzle began to glow. In a flash, Yami became Yugi. Unfortunately, Yugi's arms weren't much better.

"Nope, they're hurting still," he chuckled. All gawked to seeing the change.

"You can change form?" gawked Tenchi.

"Well, I have a spirit of a 5,000-year-old pharaoh that I unlocked." Alphonse awed Yugi's little surprise. Arms of armor, Alphonse's arms didn't have the same pain the rest had.

" **That was your Spirit Form?"** he gasped. **"Wow! Any chance you can have him come back out?"**

"Slow down, Alphonse! After the past few days, he might need a few to rest up." Edward saw something which made Yami's rest seem light.

"Ash might need a few more," he pointed out. All turned to see Ash's arms blood red with Pikachu massaging one of them. Kari worked on the other arm.

"What the hell were you carrying?" wondered InuYasha.

"Everything…" groaned Ash.

"I bet," Ichigo wanted to believe. Shū's arms felt better after many minutes to relax them.

"I guess carrying all those books for Nodoka wasn't so bad," he huffed. "Now I smell something going on in the kitchen." Shū made his way to the door and opened to find Pete sprinkling a mix of cinnamon and sugar with Sasami.

"That's how you make homemade donuts?" she asked.

" _Mini-_ donuts," Pete corrected. "Had them in theaters back home in Wisconsin, they're pretty good." Shū watched the two making donuts and decided to make a little nitpick.

"What's wrong with popcorn, Pete?" he voiced. Pete turned to Shū with a sneer.

"It's called a menu. Anyway, Sasami and I discussed about tonight's double matinee: one for the little guys and one for the rest." Shū joined Pete and Sasami in the kitchen. A couple of hours later, Diego and Neo set the projector for the smaller group inside while Pete and Emma set a projector beach-side for the elders. With snacks and drinks, all made their ways to their movies. Amy, Conan, Sasami, Shippo, Alphonse, Nodoka and the creatures stayed inside. They viewed a movie of dragons while the rest outside saw a different movie. That movie had scene which made Kari and Kuriko clutch Ash.

"Bugs…" stuttered Kari.

"And big ones…" shivered Kuriko. Inside, the other vacationers watched a scene with the boys motivated by a flight.

"Toothless knows how to get her attention, just minutes after Astrid tried to kill him," Shippo watched as he munched on popcorn.

"Alright, I admit it," a young woman from the movie awed. "This is pretty cool! It's… amazing. He's amazing." As they watched, Max and Conan noticed Rini and Amy cuddling up to their interests.

"I think this was the wrong movie," Conan mummed.

" **Nah, and it's a good first time for me since I've never seen a movie before,"** Alphonse giggled. Nodoka toggled on Alphonse's suit and pointed to the girls getting… a little close.

"Not that," she corrected. Max and Conan sighed. Back outside, a new scene played out. Kari and Kuriko remained close to a fixated Ash.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a man in the movie started. "I give you… KONG! The Eighth Wonder of the World!" A roar from the movie irked the girls and some of the young men.

"Why do they have Ann chained up like that?" wondered InuYasha. Kari and Kuriko gripped Ash's hands. About an hour later, those outside finished the movie. They found Alphonse looking to get a little help.

"What's wrong?" asked May.

" **Take a look,"** he instructed. All saw Max and Conan unable to move.

"They saw a cute scene, held on tight and fell asleep," Nodoka explained. Rachel came to Conan's side.

"Doesn't seem I'll pry her off," she shrugged. Ryoko reached Rachel's side.

"Let's bring them to your room," she offered. Chad came to Max's side.

"Same with this," he studied before turning to who Rini came with. "Serena, Darrien, is it okay for Rini to stay with Ash and May for the night?" Looking to each other, Serena and Darrien gave it a thought.

"I guess so," Darrien responded.

"Make sure she's okay," Serena promised. Chad nodded before transferring the two kids to Ash's room. Late at night, Kazuki's room had one bed unoccupied. Kuriko found Ash's room and placed a piece of paper onto it.

"Unlock…" she whispered. She opened the door to find Max and Rini in one bed and May alone in another. That's when she found her target. She floated to Ash's bed before undoing the blankets and inserting herself inside, her undergarments the only thing on her. Elizabeth phased out to see Kuriko getting to cuddle with Ash.

" _Kuriko!"_ she shrieked while trying to not disturb the rest. _"What are you doing?!"_ Kuriko sneered as she fixed herself by Ash.

"Doing what I can't to Kazuki. And besides, my heart's wanting him." Elizabeth gawked to Kuriko's response as she gave Ash a kiss to the lips while caressing his face.

" _What do you mean can't to Kazuki?! What about his lineage?"_ Kuriko began sawing logs in an instant. _"She's asleep? The nerve of her! She's suppose to be-"_ Elizabeth studied Ash's face, almost wanting to fall for him as well. _"Sucks that I'm a ghost. I guess I can feel inside him."_ She phased into Ash's body and got herself comfortable. While Kuriko began to sleep, she never realized the door opened… and a sleepy Kari found the door. Her eyes closed with her pajamas on her body, she slumped to Ash's bed the opposite of Kuriko and crawled in to his blankets. In her unconscious state, she gave Ash a kiss to the lips as well while softly rubbing his face. After her brief movement, she wrapped her arms and legs on his arm before she stopped moving altogether. Calm now reigned in the Hotel but come the morning, Ash will be in for a surprise.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	10. Have a Pinna Fun

_Chapter 10: Have a Pinna Fun!_

* * *

 _(Rini's Dream)_

 _A princess waited in a tower for her savior to come and whisk her away. A battle ensued far off in the distance. After time passed, a young knight in a suit of armor came flying in on a Pegasus to the window of the tower. "Princess Rini!" sounded someone familiar. Rini saw the young face with glasses after he removed his helmet._

" _Max!" she cheered._

" _That dragon's long gone. Ready to come home?" Rini didn't want to go yet and instead boarded the Pegasus and gave the raven-haired a flurry of kisses. Funny enough…_

* * *

(Reality)

She's kissing him as they slept. Max heard lips smacking his cheek and woke to find Rini's lips repeatedly pressed to it. Needless to say that it also got May to wake and look. Seeing her brother getting the cheeky treatment, May covered her mouth, not willing to let out a laugh and wake anyone else. "Don't turn, Max!" she quietly warned, trying to hide her excitement. Not hearing his sister, Max turned and instead of his cheek again, the sleeping Rini kissed his lips. May witnessed, vehemently trying not to laugh so loud as to wake Ash, less and unknowing Kari and Kuriko. Her cheeks ballooned, holding in her laughter. Rini suddenly woke up and spotted who she's kissing. In shock, Rini's face became bright red.

"Ma- Max?" she stuttered. Pikachu woke and crawled up to Max's bed to see the moment. Unable to hold back, May let out a laugh at the embarrassing sight.

"That was priceless!" She laughed hard. Max heard enough cackling.

"I get it, May," he groaned. "Imagine if there was a young man like Brock with you." That quieted the brunette. From laughing like a hyena to acting sheepish, she made no peep. Rini looked befuddled to her location.

"Why am I here and not with Serena and Darrien?" she questioned.

"You and Amy fell asleep in our arms during our movie. Chad carried us here since you couldn't wake up." Hearing what happened, Rini became humiliated. That's when Max noticed the door ajar. "Didn't Ash lock the door?" May turned to the door, something feeling off.

"Yeah, I even reminded him after Chad left," she replayed. They turned to Ash's bed and noticed three bodies underneath as Rini inspected the door.

"What's this?" she wondered. She found a slip of paper with Japanese symbols on it. Max came to see it, a blank in his mind.

"I've never seen that before," he studied. May lurched over to see who's in Ash's bed. She found three sets of hair: blond, raven-haired and brunette in that order. Her curiosity rocketed to having her arm grab the blanket. She pulled and found Ash, Kari and Kuriko in the same bed and all asleep. May's face read terrified. A yelp summoned Max, Rini and Pikachu to see the group. "Kinda makes you jealous, huh?" Kuriko stirred first and glanced glared to Ash's still sleeping face, but he didn't stay asleep for long. Ash's eyes caught the blond first.

"Good morning, handsome," she greeted with a smile. Shocked to find Kuriko in bed, Ash yelped and startled Kari awake. Kuriko saw the brunette and gawked. May's jaw fell like an anvil and caught Rini's attention. She tried to reattach May's jaw but it wasn't working.

"What the heck am I doing here?" shrieked Kari. Ash turned to Kari, shocked to see her as well.

"Kari?" gasped Ash.

"What are you doing in Ash's bed?!" gawked Kuriko. Kari jumped out of the bed, her legs drenched.

"I thought I was in my room!" she stuttered. As if he hadn't had enough in his bed, Elizabeth seeped out of Ash's body. Rini jumped in fright and hid behind Max.

" _Never been in a nice and warm body in a while,"_ she complimented. Everyone couldn't believe the crowd with Ash.

"Elizabeth?" gawked Kuriko. Elizabeth glanced to Kuriko with a scowl.

" _Don't start, okay? Besides, you decided to rub his bare leg like a dog. Check your underwear!"_ Both Kari and Kuriko saw their legs soaked to the bone. Max turned away and made Rini follow. Ash's legs needed a few towels. After the fiasco in the Pokémon Room, most of the vacationers gathered for breakfast. The movie seemed to be on some of the vacationers' minds.

"I haven't been able to sleep since seeing 'King Kong' last night," Joey moaned as he nibbled on toast. Rachel and Ichigo came to see Joey and Serenity.

"It's just a movie, Joseph," Rachel murmured.

"I know but the ending didn't make sense to me. Carl said at the end 'It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty that killed the Beast.' I'm sorry but how could Ann be the one to take down Kong?" Ichigo slumped with his eyes closed.

"Let's see if I can help with that," he offered. "Before seeing Ann, Kong's been lonely for a long time. After the film crew found his island and Kong saw Ann, it's love at first sight. With Ann's ability as an actress, her role continued despite the real life crisis. Kong's attention is what led to his downfall." Ichigo's explanation gave Joey some insight but not enough to convince him about the closure.

"Still, you're talking about a chick that weighs a hundred pounds soaking wet and a monkey that's about the size of Coconut Mall." Conan overheard Joey's argument and tried to offer his opinion.

"I heard that beauty's in the eye of the beholder," he pointed out. "Sometimes, people see different things others don't." Joey slumped to the explanation and gave it some thought.

"Great, I'm having someone half my age try teaching me about a movie he didn't watch." Serenity didn't think Conan watching something else mattered.

"I believe Conan's saying it in general," she pointed out.

"I'm not saying I disagree with him… I find it weird he's the one telling me." This interested Rachel to the movie Conan saw.

"So, we teens and some of us older kids saw a modernized version of 'King Kong'," she said. "What did you guys see?"

"'How to Train Your Dragon'," Conan answered. "I thought it was cool seeing all those dragons in the Dragon's Nest, though it did scare Shippo to hide behind Sasami." Overhearing the conversation, Max and Sasami entered.

"No kidding, and how cool Toothless was and how he and Hiccup worked together prior to those tests by the vikings," Max added. Conan laughed and nodded.

"I was gonna say that," Sasami giggled. "But I wonder, who's training who. The title seemed misleading."

"What, you think it should've said 'How to be Dragon Trained'?" joked Conan. That's when he irked at his joke. "On second thought, bad idea for a title." Sasami patted Conan on the back.

"Still, seeing Astrid kissing Hiccup... I nearly melted in awe." InuYasha came by and heard the discussion.

"You guys talking about the movies last night?" he asked.

"We are," Ichigo confirmed. "Come on, I saw you stoked during Kong's fight with the V-Rex." InuYasha grinned.

"That was brutal, especially the way Kong corked that V-Rex's head. Kagome couldn't watch." Rachel's reaction was a shiver.

"I didn't think you could kill a dinosaur like Kong did," she cringed. "Then again, those bugs… I think termites and cockroaches are the least of the bugs to bug out on." Max snickered to Rachel's quiver.

"Trust me, your reaction's not as bad as Misty's," he compared. InuYasha laughed to Max's point. Alphose, who saw the Dragon movie, compared it to something involving Edward.

" **I will admit, seeing Hiccup's aftermath and having an artificial leg reminded me of Ed,"** he compared. **"Although, how it happened were completely different."** Edward heard Alphonse and wondered about it.

"Let me guess, he also had it replaced with auto-mail, right?" he assumed.

" **No, it's a peg leg, not auto-mail."** Edward cringed to the difference. Ichigo looked around but found someone missing.

"Max, where's Ash?" he asked. "He's usually on his second plate. I haven't seen him in the dining hall."

"Yeah, he's usually the first one in here," Serenity added. Max had a guess to the reason.

"He's probably still feeling embarrassed about having Kari, Kuriko and Elizabeth in the same bed," he assumed. Ash sat outside on edge overlooking Sirena Beach. He couldn't believe the morning he had. Out of sympathy, Elizabeth came to Ash's side.

" _Excuse me,"_ she called. Ash turned to the ghost that slept inside of him. _"Are you doing okay? I know this morning seemed… crazy, but…"_

"Crazy doesn't do what happened enough," he groaned. "You, Kari, Kuriko… Who's next, Kagome?!" Elizabeth irked to the notion.

" _Okay, you have a point! What I'm trying to say is that I'm noticing Kuriko going after you a lot more than Kazuki. He's got a family lineage that her family needs but she's abandoning her duty. I want to know why and I thought I'd see if you had the answer inside of you."_ Ash sighed at Elizabeth's method.

"You can't simply ask her, yourself?"

" _She's ignored me… a lot!"_ Ash jerked forward in response.

"Sorry I asked." To Ash, he had to find the answers for Elizabeth and himself. "Guess I'll ask her when I have a moment with her… and awake to talk." Elizabeth wanted to take Ash's word for grant.

" _Thank you. If Yuna, Kazuki and I can't do it, at least you'll get answers."_ Ash nodded before Elizabeth flew off. As Ash stood up, he found a ship. Inside, Neo stepped out to see everyone.

"Morning, Ash," he greeted. "You okay?" Ash shrugged his shoulders.

"A wild morning so far," he simplified.

"I see. I'll go and see the rest. It's Pinna Park today for that celebration." After breakfast for everyone, all boarded the ship. They sailed before reaching an island that had the Ferris Wheel. Stepping off, they viewed many sunflowers with eyes.

"Welcome to Pinna Park!" they greeted. The kids awed the sunflowers and even the large sunflower with a brown face. As they continued on, they found the park with many rides, kiosks and stands, some under tents. All sorts of Piantas, Nokis, Toads and an assortment of turtles filled the park.

"Wow, we came to a party!" cheered Serena.

"No kidding!" agreed Rebecca.

"Hey, we can't just stand around!" urged Elie. "Let's get out there and have some fun!" All of the vacationers bolted to enjoy the music and the rides like the tea cups and the roller coaster which Edward freaked out.

"Too fast!" he screamed. Alphonse sighed while watching Edward's struggle.

" **Some people, Ed,"** he mulled. **"They can't handle the pace."** There was a parade on a stretch of road. Many Toads, some Yoshis and the locals carried and rode floats of people and turtles. One was a mustached brunette in red with blue jean overalls. It also appeared he carried a F.L.U.D.D. on his back. Another was a young ponytaill blond woman wearing a light pink ballgown and a parasol while sporting a gold crown. Another was a giant spiked turtle with claws and a snout of a dragon with a large tuff of red hair. One more was a smaller version of the first turtle with an addition of a scarf and holding a paintbrush. Kazuki, Yukinari, Yuna, Miharu, Rachel, Haru, Elie, Tenchi and Conan watched the parade.

"From what Neo told me and seeing the pictures, there's Mario!" pointed Kazuki. "And he's even got his own F.L.U.D.D." Elie helped identify the rest.

"That's gotta be Princess Peach!" she noted. "And behind them are Bowser and son, Bowser Jr."

"I see now!" awed Yuna as she placed a hand on Yukinari's shoulder. Yukinari jumped as a rash developed on his face and limbs.

"Yuna!" he cried. Looking, Yuna jumped at the fearful sight.

"What the heck!" Miharu and Haru came to Yukinari's aid.

"It's his Girl Rash!" she determined. Tenchi also tried to help. Meanwhile, May, Max, Serena, Darrien and Rini tried a ping pong bottle game using Chukacola bottles with the necks of the bottles cut out. Each one had different colors with bronze in the middle, silver in the inner square and gold in the middle. Each one tossed the balls at the bottles but most of the balls fell between the bottles. Max threw one and it caromed from a bronze bottle to the gold bottle in the center. The Pianta in charge of the carnival game gawked to the lucky bounce.

"Hey!" she awed. "A grand prize shot! You win, kiddo!" Max pumped his fist in celebration.

"Nice toss, Max!" applauded May.

"Alright, take your pick! I'm sure there's something you'll like." Max saw all sorts of plush dolls including different turtles, furry brown mushrooms, Bloopers… but Rini saw plush dolls of Peach as an adult and as a baby, along with Mario adult and baby forms. Max caught her eyes and turned to the Baby Peach dolls.

"That one!" he pointed. Rini gasped but awed Max's choice. The Pianta reached and pulled the Baby Peach doll.

"You got it!" After handing the doll to Max, Rini came to congratulate the raven-haired when he had a surprise by handing the doll to her.

"You wanted this, right?" Rini gawked at Max's offer. Cheeks blushing, her shock and awe exposed itself to the offering.

"You- You're giving it to me?" she guessed.

"Well… There wasn't anything that caught my eye but I saw yours focused on that doll. How could I say no to that?" Rini gulped to the words, further awe-struck. She dropped the Baby Peach doll to hug Max, stunning him.

"Oh, Max! I love it! Thank you!" She kissed Max on the cheek. The scene made May laugh.

"Wow, Max," she began to tease. "Looks like you two will need wedding bells soon!" Max gawked to his sister's goading.

"Come on, May!" he complained. "You're embarrassing me!" Darrien didn't mind Rini's take about Max.

"Well, you're never too young to love someone," he insisted. "You and Rini do make a nice pair."

"I'll say," May agreed. "Brock should take some lessons from you. Oh, maybe I can tell Mom and Dad about this little Pidgey being in love." Max's eye twitched to May's tease.

"Do that and I'll never speak to you again," he warned. Serena tried to muffle her laugh to the siblings' squabble. Rini saw TK and Madison heading to the Ferris Wheel.

"I know what we can do next," she chimed to Max. "Follow me!" Holding the Baby Peach doll in one hand, Rini dragged Max toward the Ferris Wheel. Other vacationers heard speakers sounding and came to see it.

" _Hello, Isle Delfino!"_ a young man greeted with an Italian accent.

" _It's us, Princess Peach and my protector, Mario,"_ a young woman spoke. _"Today's the 15th Anniversary of Mario's liberation of King Bowser Koopa from your island. We're sorry that we couldn't attend this year. Mario and I do wish for everyone to have a great time in our absence and be safe."_

" _Stay fantasico!"_ The message from Mario and Peach gave insight to the vacationers to know who the two were.

"So, that was Mario and Princess Peach," Ryoko nodded. "I wonder if they're married or are planning on it." Several of the vacationers like TK, Madison, Max, Rini and Shū and Nodoka rode the Ferris Wheel. During which, Ash wandered from the action. Elizabeth's words didn't help him in easing the situation and Pikachu hung around his shoulder.

"I've never been so bothered by girls sleeping with me," he complained. "Sure, Misty and May didn't do it to me but it's like why now?" Pikachu couldn't come up with an answer and shrugged his shoulders. Just then, a whine from above.

("What was that?") the mouse squeaked. More whines, now helping Pikachu's ears as they perked.

"You found the sound, Pikachu?" Looking up, Pikachu determined a direction.

("On the roofs!") Ash saw Pikachu point and followed in the direction. They found a ladder and propped it to a wall as Serenity wandered in the same area. Watching Ash set then climb the ladder, something didn't settle with Joey's younger sister.

"What's going on?" she asked. Just as Ash reached the rooftop, Serenity stepped onto it. Ash and Pikachu saw a yellow star-like creature flat on the roof.

"What's that?" the trainer wondered. The two came to see this star-like creature to find eyes half-open while in Ash's arms. "Exhausted?" The creature saw Ash and whimpered as Serenity reached the roof.

"Ash, what did you find?" Ash turned to Serenity and saw the creature.

"Doesn't look too good." Pikachu suddenly spotted something from a short distance: gelatin-like rocks of different colors. Serenity saw Pikachu dash to the rocks.

"Pikachu, did you find anything?" Pikachu returned with a rock to which the creature's eyes lit up. It chimed in desire of having the rock. Serenity had an idea. "You think this thing wants that?"

"Let's see." Pikachu offered the rock which it slurped up like gelatin. It cheered in favor of eating the rock up. "There we go!"

"Nice thinking, Pikachu!" The Pokémon smiled before retrieving the rest of the rocks. Serenity hand-fed them to the creature. A few of the rocks later, it left Ash's arms and floated. The three looked amazed at the creature's fast recovery.

"You're looking a lot better!" It chimed before a shrill when it became two stars spinning oppose to each other, and surrounding a startled trio. "Okay, what's this?" The stars began to spin faster and faster as it separated from each other. As the stars spun, so did the three.

"Ash…!" When the stars appeared completely above and below Ash, Serenity and Pikachu. The stars stopped. They came together and launched the three to the sky so fast, their panicked scream weren't heard until they vanished in the sky. They broke the sound barrier. Serenity's delayed scream caught Joey's attention.

"Sis?" he gawked. Ash's scream alarmed Kari and Kuriko.

"Ash!?" they gasped. Ash, Pikachu and Serenity flew away from the planet and into space at supersonic speed. Needless to say neither one of them enjoyed the flight.

"Not good!" yelled Serenity. They flew past meteors and shooting stars before a giant castle emerged.

"We're gonna hit!" yelled Ash. They passed into a bubble and began to slow down before falling onto ground of a giant platform. The three scattered out of breath as the star-like creature reemerged. The three started to come around. "Is it over?" Serenity looked up and saw different platforms with structures.

"Is this part of Isle Delfino?" Ash got up and looked around as well. The midnight blue sky alerted him to find the edge and dash to it. He found a planet below, the planet they were on a couple of minutes ago.

"I highly doubt it!" Serenity heard and came over to Ash. Seeing the planet below, she gasped in horror. A chortle sounded from behind the two.

"Do not be afraid of finding my Luma on the island," a woman's voice. "Welcome to the Comet Observatory." The three turned to see a tall but slender platinum blond woman in a sky blue gown worn past her shoulders. She had a silver crown on top and a star-shaped brooch above her chest. Pikachu gawked at the shine from the new woman and squealed in awe.

"The Comet Observatory?" repeated Serenity.

"Yes. It's my home, as well as home of the Lumas like the one you helped on the island." The star-like creature reappeared and flew to Ash before taking his cap.

"Hey!" he snapped. The creature reached Serenity and applied the cap to her head.

"Hey!" she laughed. "I'm not a Pokémon Trainer!" More of the creatures appeared with different colors. The newcomers saw the creatures. "Wait, are you saying they're all Lumas?"

"Of course," the platinum blond confirmed. "I take care of them when they seek shelter in the galaxy." Ash and Serenity awed the responsibility of the woman as Pikachu began to play with the Lumas. "I am Rosalina. I watch over the galaxies when there are issues to assess." Ash and Serenity admired Rosalina's dedication.

"I'm Ash Ketchum," he introduced himself. "Playing with your Lumas is Pikachu." A Luma flew Pikachu to show Rosalina who took the Pokémon to meet her. Rosalina held Pikachu and tickled his chin.

"I'm Serenity Wheeler," she welcomed herself. "My brother, Joey, is a Duel Monsters' duelist." Rosalina nodded before having more to say.

"You came from Isle Delfino with friends, is that right?" she studied.

"We did." Rosalina floated to a giant screen and tapped it. It showed Pinna Park and Joey and Elie coming to the screen.

"Whoa, what's that?" gawked the blond. When the two reached the screen, Ash and Serenity spotted the other two approaching the screen.

"Joey!" Those in the park gasped in shock at who was on the screen.

"Ash!? Serenity!? Where are you?!" Serenity huffed a sigh.

"Calm down, Joey. You don't need to yell." The Elric brothers saw the monitor and wondered the ordeal.

"Where are you guys?" asked Elie.

"You're not gonna believe us but we're on the Comet Observatory…" answered Ash. " _Way_ above you guys." None of those at the park knew what Ash meant. Rosalina appeared.

"Everyone can relax," she advised. "I'll watch over these two… or three tonight up here. I'll bring them to the island tomorrow morning." Joey breathed a sigh of relief, knowing his sister will be okay.

"I'll keep your word." Rosalina's eyes saw Edward and Alphonse before the monitor shut off.

"What the hell's going on?" asked Edward.

"We're not sure but Ash and Serenity are somehow on the Comet Observatory," Elie reported. "I'll tell May and Max the update."

"Right, leave Yuge to me," Joey agreed. Alphonse palmed Joey's shoulder.

" **I'll come with you,"** he offered.

"Thanks, Al." As the two headed out to advise Yugi. When Elie arrived at the Ferris Wheel, he heard that Max rode with Rini.

"He'll be in here," she believed. The door opened and Elie got ready to inform. "Max, I got news-" She stopped and gawked to Rini and Max having a kiss. Seeing the moment, Elie decided to back away. "I'll let you two finish… and wait outside." While waiting, Elie couldn't believe her sight. _'Those two are hitting it off, even if they're not close to the teenage years.'_ Back on the Comet Observatory, Ash looked out to the planet below as Rosalina met up with him.

"Is everything okay, Ash?" she asked. Ash turned to the owner of the Observatory.

"Just a wild morning with Kuriko Kazetsubaki, Kari Kamiya and Elizabeth in the same bed with me," he explained. "I don't know what to say. I guess I'm not use to having a girl in the same bed or sleeping bag, let alone two and a ghost." Rosalina giggled to the issue.

"I do not see anything wrong with that. Do you have any interest with either?" Ash blinked while Serenity watched with a Luma in her arms and Pikachu on her shoulder.

"Should I?" Rosalina rested a hand onto Ash's head.

"It's not a big deal. Perhaps a time will come when you understand their reasoning. I would like to see them myself to understand." Rosalina's words started to sink in for Ash.

"A reasoning… I wonder if it's me or my Pokémon." Rosalina floated away to let Ash ponder.

"I may like him but I won't go as far as the three he mentioned," Serenity admitted. Pikachu didn't mind Serenity's take. They and Ash would spend the night in space. Ash released his Pokémon who started to play with the Lumas and enter structures around the Observatory. While two beds may be vacant in Hotel Delfino, those who came with will know they're okay with Rosalina.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	11. Full-Human Alchemists

_Chapter 11: Full-Human Alchemists_

* * *

Morning but while those on Isle Delfino began to wake for the day, those on the Comet Observatory slept. Ash, Serenity and Pikachu snoozed on beds in a room high above the world. Serenity held Pikachu in her arms as she slept back-to-back with Ash. Pikachu woke first and wriggled free of Serenity's hold. He scampered outside to see the Lumas again. Seeing the Lumas, Rosalina came out to find the creatures playing. "Did you sleep well, Pikachu?" she asked.

("I did,") Pikachu squeaked. Rosalina giggled to the answer.

"I'm glad… and you're just in time. The daily star shower's about to begin." Pikachu blinked to Rosalina's event.

("Daily Star Shower?") Looking up, they saw small meteorites coming onto the Observatory.

"There's no need to move. Just watch." The meteorites landed in front but instead of crashing and making big holes on the ground, it became more of the gelatin rocks the Luma Ash found enjoyed. The Lumas swarmed the rocks and began eating. "Lumas simply enjoy Star Bits. Their dreams vary, whether they want to become little planets or entire galaxies or somewhere in between."

("Galaxies?!") Overhearing Rosalina and awake from not holding Pikachu, Serenity exited the bedroom and came to the conversation.

"Talk about big dreams from such little stars," she awed. Rosalina and Pikachu turned to Serenity who watched the Lumas have their meal.

"Indeed," Rosalina agreed. "No two Lumas dream similarly. They have their goals to wish. It's remarkable how they achieve their accomplishments." Serenity acknowledged Rosalina's word while watching the Lumas eat and frolic around. "You know, it's been awhile since I had humans in my observatory. I still remember Mario helping me gather Stars and Grand Stars to help find his Special One." To Serenity, Mario's "Special One" was obvious.

"Princess Peach." Rosalina nodded as Ash had awaken and came out of the bedroom.

"Everything okay?" he asked. Pikachu ran to and leaped onto his shoulder.

"Good morning, Ash." Rosalina waived to Ash to welcome him.

"I was mentioning how I haven't had many visitors to the observatory. It does feel lonely not to have anyone to discuss matters." She let out a heavy sigh. Ash observed her issue and the surrounding.

"I kinda share the same boat you're on," he admitted. Rosalina and Serenity turned to Ash in questioning.

"But Ash," Serenity started. "How would you be alone? You've got May and Max, and while on the island, Kari and Kuriko with you." Ash nodded to her point.

"True, but I mean that Pikachu's been someone who listens to me and does somewhat speaks back… but still, it does feel better to talk to someone." Rosalina nodded, understanding Ash's point.

"Apparently, I'm not alone." Serenity and Pikachu also believed Ash's word. "Let's head back to the island so that I may see more of your friends." Ash, Pikachu, Serenity and the Lumas agreed. They reached another platform with a building marked the Terrace. After entering, a star like what launched Ash, Pikachu and Serenity to the observatory formed. It surrounded the group before it emerged above the building. "Here we go!" The star launched the group down to the island. Back near Hotel Delfino, Edward stepped outside to the rising sun.

"Less than a week before we return to Central," he muttered. "To think, the furlough apparently feels like a way for us to meet other people. Colonel Hothead's probably laughing his ass off knowing that we're stuck here doing nothing but boredom." Alphonse came to see Edward outside with by his side.

" **Still having a hard time trying to have a good time?"** he guessed.

"Al, I didn't want to have this vacation when we're trying to find the Philosopher's Stone. I swear, Mustang will find that stone and make us beg for it to get our bodies back." Den whimpered to Edward's proclamation. That's when her ears perked like Pikachu and looked up. Alphonse saw the perking.

 **"Den, what is it?"** Edward turned to Den, then where she faced. The Elrics saw what seemed to be a shooting star falling. Pikachu's cry alerted the brothers. **"They're back!"** The brothers saw their descent and rushed to where they predicted to land. The scream also summoned Kazuki, Yuna, May, Max, Yugi and Joey.

"Serenity!" yelled Joey. The shooting star had a sudden drop of speed and the light among them faded to reveal Ash, Serenity, Rosalina, Pikachu and Luma emerged.

"You're back!" cheered Max.

"How was it up there?" asked Yuna.

"Trust me, it's a sight unlike any other," Serenity started. Rosalina studied Alphonse as Ash and Pikachu reunited with May and Max.

"How in the world did you two wind up with her?" asked May.

"Feeding these guys," Ash answered with a Luma by his side. May and Max awed the Luma.

"It's cute. Kinda reminds me of Staryu a little." Alphonse wanted to pet the Luma but it retreated to May. Rosalina came to see Alphonse.

"My apologies," she said. "Lumas are still young. They aren't use to seeing anyone walking around in suits of armor." Alphonse sighed, understanding Luma's fear.

" **Sorry about that,"** he reacted softly. Rosalina started to study Alphonse.

"Can you remove your helmet, please?" Alphonse stuttered to the request.

" **Wait… why do you want my helmet removed?"**

"I'd want to know why you're in this suit of armor." Begrudgingly, Alphonse reached and pulled the helmet off… and everyone but Edward gasped in horror: Alphonse had no head.

"Oh my god!" shrieked Yuna. "Alphonse, what happened to you?!" All wondered before Edward came forward.

"Al and I lost our mother to illness," he started. "As prodigies in alchemy, we believed we could bring our mom back and learned forbidden transmutation instead of finding a Philosopher's Stone. After learning from Izumi, we returned home and despite the risk, we tried Human Alchemy without sacrificing another human. It was disastrous. I lost my left leg and Al lost his body." Edward rolled up his sleeve to show his metallic arm. "I sacrificed my right arm to keep Al's soul here and engraved a blood seal to the armor." May came to Edward, horrified about their ordeal.

 **"Den's leg had to be severed from a disease and she, too, had to be replaced with auto-mail,"** Alphonse added.

"I'm sorry you and Al had to go through so much," she moaned.

"It's our fault we couldn't let go." Kazuki heard the ordeal as well and turned to Alphonse.

"If I could, I'd bring you and Ed back to the way you were," he wished. Yuna didn't want Kazuki to use any magic.

"You can't, Kazuki!" she pleaded. "You can only use it three more times!" All heard Yuna's cry, wondering about this ordeal now.

"What do you mean?" asked Yugi. Kazuki sighed before coming clean. Alphonse put the helmet back on his head.

"Those from where Kuriko, Yuna and I reside can use magic," he started. "However, we have limits to how much magic we use. Kuriko can use her magic more than 179 thousand times, Yuna can use her magic more than ten thousand times… and I only can use it three." Something didn't sit right with Kazuki's explanation.

"So what happens when you use that magic up?" asked Joey.

"We die and our bodies turn to ash," Yuna summarized. Rosalina and the vacationers pained to hear of the consequences.

"I appreciate the sympathy, Kaz," Edward praised. "But it's our problem. You don't need to help at the expense of your life." Suddenly, the Luma started to chime to Rosalina. Whatever it said, Rosalina nodded.

"It may work," she agreed to the idea. She now faced the four. "Edward, Alphonse, Den, Kazuki… I may have the solutions to your problems." The four named turned to Rosalina. She turned to the sky and waved her wand. Down came four shining stars at high speed. The three gulped to what may happen while Den panted. "Once they meet you, all will be over. It will be painless."

" **Are you sure?!"** gulped Alphonse. When the stars arrived, Rosalina pointed to the four in need. The stars struck the four in the chest, launching them back while their bodies began to glow. They landed on the ground hard with everyone greatly concerned.

"Kazuki!" cried Yuna.

"Den!" gawked Ash.

"Ed!" gasped Serenity and Joey.

"Al!" yelled Max and Yugi. When the glow stopped, all three were on the ground but started to stir. Kazuki was first as Yuna ran to him as Ash reached Den. He and Pikachu saw Den's metallic leg off.

"Kazuki, are you alright?" wondered a worried Yuna.

"I think so," he groaned. "That came down harder than I expected." Without warning, Alphonse started rattling.

"A little help here!" he called out, a little muffled. Max and Yugi reached Alphonse. "It's getting a little hot in here!"

"Al, hang on!" called Edward while the other vacationers came out. Edward tried to stand up but slipped and fell on his right arm. When he got up, he cringed in pain. "Dammit, my arm!" When he started to get to his feet, he realized it wasn't normally in pain. "Wait a second, my arm?" He rolled his sleeve again, only to find skin instead of metal. "No way…" Yugi removed Alphonse's helmet while Max looked inside. What he found made him jump back.

"Max, what's wrong?!" asked Yugi. Max recovered before reaching the breastplate.

"Get a load of this!" he shouted before removing the breastplate. Inside was a blond boy with a lot of hair. He also had gold eyes like Edward's. "Let me help you!" A hand came out of the armor. Edward's face nearly hit the ground. Finally, the boy's head and torso came out of the armor much to Edward's shock and amazement.

"Al!" he cried as he got to his feet. Within reach, Edward wrapped his arms around Alphonse, human again.

"Ed!" he cried back.

"Dammit, I didn't think we'd be whole again!" The vacationers awed, some cried, to Alphonse's human form.

"I know, big brother!" Everyone gathered around as Ash escorted Den to the brothers as Winry saw Alphonse outside of the armor.

"Al, it's you!" she cried before hugging Alphonse.

"Winry!" All admired the sight, and more when Den began licking Alphonse's face. "Hey, Den! You're back to normal!" All enjoyed seeing the Elrics and Winry as humans. Kazuki turned to Rosalina with Yuna.

"So what did you do to me?" he asked.

"Learning about your past," she started. "The star I gave you will provide immunity for when you do perform your last spell." Yuna's eyes widen as did Kuriko who reached the three.

"You mean Kazuki will still be around without any magic left?" the blond asked. Rosalina nodded, bringing excitement to the two girls. "We can still have time to do what we can with you!" Rosalina smiled before she looked back up. To Ash with Kari by him, the Comet Observatory beckoned her return.

"You're heading back to the Observatory?" he guessed.

"It's my home," Rosalina expressed. "Much like how you have them. Ash, Serenity… as well as everyone else… Enjoy the time you have with each other. Soon, you'll be worlds apart, but friendship and love will remain close to your heart. Farewell." She began to fly off to space, to the Observatory… to her home.

"Rosalina…" Serenity named. "She needs more than her Lumas." Yugi and Joey could wonder her meaning. Ash turned to May and Max with a bit of guilt on his face while Serena and Rini joined.

"Sorry for leaving you guys so suddenly," he apologized. "This was before I met the Luma who took us up."

"Hey, relax," Serena eased. "Knowing you and Serenity are okay is all we need to think about." Max wondered about his time with Serenity.

"By the way, did you and Serenity do anything up there?" he asked. Ash simply shook his head.

"We may have been in the same bed, but we were more back-to-back," he corrected.

"I was gonna say," May trusted. "You and Serenity wouldn't have worked out… especially with Kari and Kuriko dolling around you." Ash winced to the reminder while Kari and Kuriko nodded nearby. Even they didn't think Serenity would chase Ash.

"So I've been experiencing." Ichigo removed his shirt to give Alphonse on realizing he had no clothes.

"There's some clothes I got for Al when he and Ed became whole again," Winry brought up. "I can escort him to our room." Elie and Sasami whispered to each other about ideas.

"Hey, Winry!"the blue-haired voiced. "Elie and I can fix his hair after you're done dressing him!" Alphonse awed the idea.

"It's been a few years since I've had something done to my hair," he snickered.

"Okay, come along!" happily urged Winry. Elie turned to Haru, the first time since the big spar between him, InuYasha and Ichigo.

"I can't wait to see what we'll do to Al!" she cheered. Back with Ash learning about Max and Rini.

"In the Ferris Wheel, huh?" he repeated the story from the two and Serena and Darrien.

"Well, these two seem to be growing up at a rapid pace," Darrien joked. "Wish I could say the same for Ed, there." Hearing Darrien, Edward turned around to face the teaser.

"Shut up!" he snapped. Rebecca and Sakura laughed.

"Anyway, they described it as this…"

* * *

 _(Ferris Wheel, Pinna Park; Yesterday)_

 _Riding one of the cars was Max and Rini. She still held_ _the plush_ _Baby Peach doll Max won. "This is the greatest time of fun since I met Serena and her friends,"_ _she said._

" _Tell me about it,"_ _Max agreed. "Then again, I haven't have this much fun with a girl outside my mom or May." Rini giggled,_ _humored to his point._

" _I know… but I can say this without a problem." Max became curious._

" _What's that?" Rini hesitated a little before making her admission._

" _If I ever find you again, we could have another time together." Max nodded, knowing her intention._

" _That can be arranged…"_

" _And the reason is… that you're the first boy that I'm in love with." Max jumped in shock. He didn't expect her confession to include love._

" _Really?" Rini nodded as she put the plush down and walked to the raven-haired boy before kissing him on the lips._

* * *

"And that's how it happened," Serena finished. Ash and Serenity, who came in to hear about Max and Rini, awed the young kids finding love.

"That's so sweet of you two," Serenity praised. "Wish Tristan and Duke learned from seeing this." Inside, Elie and Sasami washed and trimmed Alphonse's hair. Pounds of hair pounded the floor, weight on his head lightened.

"Suddenly, I'm starting to feel like who I was before Ed and I tried to bring back our mom," he pictured. Elie stopped for a minute about further cutting.

"Oh!" she hushed. "I didn't know we're bringing back-"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. It's good nostalgia." Sasami smiled before continuing.

"Shu said that he's making you something to eat once we're done with this," she explained. Alphonse snickered.

"I'm gonna pig out tonight." Elie and Sasami chuckled to the thought. Back outside, Edward, now sporting a tank-top and shorts, began punching, kicking and flipping the air. However, his flips have ended up having his backside in the sand. He had scars over his body, none more apparent than on his right shoulder.

"Damn, it's not as easy to fight without my auto-mail," he complained. "I had trained to keep balance with it but now… I look foolish! Dammit!" His ranting summoned Rachel.

"You do know we have children on this island," she warned. Edward turned to the Moore girl who came down onto the beach.

"Hey, you have any idea what it's like to lose an arm and a leg before having it reattached after years with auto-mail? It's not easy!" Rachel watched his swings from the side, taking a guess to the actions.

"You're a martial artist aside from an alchemist?"

"What's it to you?" Rachel nodded before taking a stance which intrigued the blond. "Oh! Looks like I found a match!"

"Yeah, keep dreaming, pal! My heart belongs to Jimmy!" Edward's sneer followed with his stance for fighting. "Well… let's see who wears the real black belt." Some of the others came to see this match between Edward and Rachel.

"I have a philosophy while conditioning when I have auto-mail: To train the spirit..."

"First train the body. My karate teacher said the same thing." With a crashing wave, both Rachel and Edward fought. They traded chops, punches, kicks and blocks.

"Hey! This is actually better than training with Al… and that's when he _was_ the suit!"

"Glad to hear it!" For minutes, the two fought. "How about the sand between your toes?"

"I'll wait until that walk on the beach!" Mesmerized by the two, Shippo tried some moves Edward and Rachel showed off. It didn't fare well as he fell on his face.

"Ouch!" The others laughed at Shippo's mimic.

"Real lessons, Shippo," mocked Luna. "You may need a lot of it." Shippo mulled. Elie and Sasami came out of the hotel.

"The makeover's done!" announced Elie. Edward and Rachel took a break and came up to find the scene. All came up to see Alphonse wearing a yellow t-shirt with star prints and shorts. His hair was far shorter than Edward's. Some of the girls began to admire Alphonse's new look.

"Whoa!" they gawked. Madison, May, Rebecca and Serenity gathered around the younger Elric.

"I didn't expect this much attention," a hesitant Alphonse shuttered. In the dining room, Shu made food for the young Elric who ate like no tomorrow.

"Not eating for years, I don't blame him for eating a lot by Rebecca's partner," InuYasha studied. Alphonse also drank milk, making Edward gag.

"If you drank milk like Al does, you wouldn't be in this position," Winry warned. Edward grew irritated with her mockery.

"I'll take the coconut milk any day," he snarled. Details came around about Rosalina's visit and the Elrics becoming whole again and Kazuki's immunity to death via magic use.

"You know, if I was there to meet her as well," Yukinari started. "I would ask if she could remove my Girl Rash." Miharu and Musica understood his ordeal.

"If anyone finds a Luma like Ash and Serenity," Musica pointed out. "I'm sure you'll get that request." Night fell and the party became tired, including Alphonse. Like getting dressed, his hair cut and food, he's got one more item to cross from his return to his old body: sleep. Tucked in bed, Edward and Winry saw him sawing logs.

"Hard to believe he sleeps like an angel despite not being able to in the few years," Winry awed. Edward smiled, still thinking that despite what he became or what he came from, this was still Alphonse. This was still his brother.

"Once we return to Resembool, I wonder what options we have," he pondered. The night began to settle and everyone, for the first time, would sleep soundly.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…

(Stay tuned as next month, the poll to "The Elements of AshMas, Volume 7" will appear)


	12. Teaching Love

_Chapter 12: Teaching Love_

* * *

As the morning rose to accept the new day, Elie, Kagome and Orihime gathered in the dining hall with tea on hand to drink. "Look, I know we've been harsh on InuYasha, Ichigo and Haru," started Elie. "After all, they did start a fight behind our backs." Kagome and Orihime nodded in accepting their role.

"Can you blame us?" questioned Kagome. "They're willing to draw blood in the name of sparring. We had to put our foot down." Orihime listened, her mind also on that fight.

"Though you have to admit how strong they've become," she pointed out. "But still, I like Ichigo and wouldn't want anything bad to happen before he helps the Soul Society again. I bet you have your swordsmen with their tasks as well."

"Yeah, like InuYasha in his quest to avenge his first love, Kikyo."

"Or our quest to destroy the Shadow Stones still scattered in our lands," Elie added. "So, let's make up with our boys and put the ordeal to bed." She extended her arm out. Kagome and Orihime agreed and did the same. That's when Al emerged with Luna in his arms.

"What are you three talking about?" he asked. The three girls turned to Al coming in and Orihime poured a cup for the young Elric.

"How's your first night sleeping as a whole?" she asked.

"Missed it. Being a soul bounded to a suit of armor for a few years, anything like eating, drinking, sleeping… I can't imagine a much more refreshing feeling to relive."

"I'd bet so," Elie chuckled. "Even Luna's getting the feeling. Who's next, May's Skitty?" Al and Kagome laughed.

"Well, he does have a decent stroke to his petting," Luna purred. "Even Serena doesn't do it this well, if she even does." Orihime smiled, believing the feeling.

"Not to mention Ed and I'm not the only two relieved to have 'curses' lifted off us," Al pointed out.

"Right," Kagome realized. "Kazuki… After hearing his story from Yuna, I'm actually glad he'll be hanging around after his magic's used up." As Al joined for tea, Kuriko stood by the cliff overlooking Sirena Beach.

' _Kazuki won't die and turned to ash thanks to Rosalina,'_ she thought. _'At least one of us will be happy to still have him around… Though, it does beg the question… When he does use the last of his magic, will he forfeit his lineage? Is that why I've been favoring Ash so much?"_ Elizabeth emerged, seeing Kuriko's pondering.

" _Thinking about what to do now that Kazuki won't die?"_ she teased. Kuriko turned to Elizabeth, not appreciating her tone.

"You know my views haven't changed, only altered. My thoughts are that if Kazuki does use his remaining magic, would the lineage of 50 magicians go by the wayside?" Elizabeth pondered the thought to the question.

" _I would imagine so… though considering that he won't die, I don't know."_

"Yeah, a case like this isn't normal." A growl echoed between the two. Kuriko checked her stomach. "Maybe it's time I ate breakfast." She entered to a still pondering Elizabeth. Everyone had a chance to eat breakfast with Emma who started to explain the trip to the vacationers.

"So today, we're going to Noki Bay," Emma started. "There, we'll see the Nokis' birthplace and explore the city." All the kids want to see it. Once they've eaten, the vacationers gathered outside in front of the hotel. They waited. "I trust Diego knows what he's doing." Overhearing Emma gave Ed a clue.

"So, Diego's taking us to Noki Bay?" he believed.

"No, he instructed me on the process. Okay, the light should be appearing about now…" That's when a light from the sky beaming on the group. All shielded their eyes from blindness. However, they vanished. On a grassy island, the light beamed down on a flat. That's when the vacationers arrived. Some staggered after coming out of the light.

"We're here?" asked Musica. Emma studied the surrounding. Several pillar-like structures protruded out of the water and had the look of shells on each. Bridges connected structure to structure.

"This is it." Everyone had a look around, finding the breathtaking scenery.

"Noki Bay is beautiful!" awed Miharu.

"Sure is," Tenchi agreed.

"Not to mention peaceful," Li added. Emma led the group to pillar-made islands connected by bridges.

"The bridges have been installed since Mario's rebel against Bowser," she explained. "It's safer than tightropes."

"Good idea," Chad complimented. "Especially with this huge group on hand." As they continued on hand, Nokis appeared and played around.

"I'm starting to see why this place is called Noki Bay," Shippo realized. "Look at em all!" The group viewed the playful Nokis.

"Just like little kids," Joey believed. "Brings back old times."

"I know exactly what you mean," Rachel huffed. That's when another Noki came forward, holding something.

"So, you're the vacationers I've heard from other Nokis," she called. The crowd turned to the Noki. The girls and young women awed what she held: a baby Noki.

"Aw, is this yours?" asked Sakura.

"Yep, just a couple of weeks old." The girls awed the newborn Noki. Sasami reached a finger to tickle it and the baby Noki giggled.

"Can I hold your baby?" requested Serenity. The Noki mother smiled as she offered her newborn to the Wheeler Sister.

"But of course!" She handed the baby to Serenity who cradled it in her arms. Other teenage girls petted, tickled and cradled the baby. The boys sighed but allowed the girls to have a chance to hold the newborn. Meanwhile, Rebecca found rocks while far from the crew to chuck into the ocean.

"I know I asked for sometime off but why here?!" she argued to herself. "And with all these weirdos!" Hearing her, Negi came to find Rebecca.

"What has your knickers in a knot?" he asked. Turning, Rebecca spotted Negi.

"Why should you care? It's not like whatever I gotta say should help you understand!" Negi shrugged to Rebecca's argument.

"I know that _not_ discussing would magnify the any dilemmas anyone contends with." Rebecca scoffed, not willing to explain.

"Here I am with another kid teacher, it's bothersome…" She found a green turtle shell. "So bothersome, it's ANNOYING!" She punted the shell which skimmed the grass before it hit something. What wasn't there before the kick was a block. That's when a red mushroom squirted out and rolled to the two. Negi picked the mushroom up.

"A Super Mushroom. I saw this at Coconut Mall." Rebecca's skeptic face came out.

"Right, and I'm suppose to assume it's okay to eat, right?" She took the Super Mushroom and shoved it to Negi's arms. "You, first!" Negi wasn't sure what to do.

"Are you sure?" Rebecca stood in Negi's face

"Look, if these things are Super as you say, eating one won't hurt you, right?" Negi gulped to the force.

"Fine! I'll eat it!" True to his word, Negi scarfed the Super Mushroom. After gulping the Super Mushroom, he settled. Rebecca watched but nothing occurred. "That wasn't-" Suddenly, he froze. Then a glow. Within second, Negi began to grow. After a few seconds, the glow dimmed. Negi had turned from a boy to a young man with a muscular build as if he'd been in a gym. Rebecca gasped at the new Negi.

"Whoa…" Without warning, her mind began to race. _'Darn it! Springfield's better looking than I ascertained! If that mushroom did that to him… Is that what he looks like when he's Shū's age? And what's this… feeling in me? I need a doctor… or someone!'_ Negi glanced at the little Rebecca.

"Is something the matter?" A trembling Rebecca wasn't sure what to say. Negi glared back to know the group had gone far ahead. "We might as well see the ruckus before-" Just then, the shell hit another block before falling into the ocean. To the surprise of Negi and Rebecca, another Super Mushroom rolled their way. "There you go, Rebecca. One to try for yourself." Rebecca pondered to what she could look like once she ate the Super Mushroom.

"Bottom's up!" She inhaled the Super Mushroom in one gulp. It took a few seconds before she began to glow and morph herself. When the glow ended, Rebecca's shape changed. Her body appeared skinnier and her chest had a boost of size. Her hair extended down to her knees. Rebecca became a young woman. "Oh my god! I… I-I'm… grown up!" Negi gulped to the sight of Rebecca's new look.

"My word…" That's when Negi palmed his chest. _'This cannot be right… Suddenly, my heart is beating senselessly for Rebecca. It never beat for Asuna nor Nodoka and never this much for Ayaka. Why an American? Why is it drumming to her?'_ The moment between each other drew the two together. Before they realized what to say, they met in the eyes and closed in before they kissed. Chamo and Mesousa gawked at seeing the kiss occur. "First time I kissed outside forming any Pactio magic, Rebecca." She huffed to her name.

"Tell you what: you're free to call me Becky." They kissed again.

"Crap, and I didn't set up to do a Pactio!" gawked Chamo. After their intimate moment, Negi thumbed Becky to reach the rest. Emma led the other vacationers to a large boat. Becky and Negi reached at the last second while everyone gawked to seeing the two.

"Whoa, who are you two?" questioned TK. Nodoka blinked before realizing Negi as older.

"Did you have the Age-Deceiving Pills on hand, Professor Negi?" she asked. Negi scoffed.

"We experimented on Super Mushrooms," he explained. "So, here's the result." The girls giggled to seeing Negi's new form.

"Rebecca, you too?" guessed Tenchi.

"I know, right?" giggled Becky. "If this is what I look like down the road, I can't wait for the future… long after those six graduate." Shū sighed. Once they boarded, Emma hit a button and closed the boat with a bubble dome. The boat started to drift toward a waterfall spilling from a cave.

"Alright, the dome will keep us dry and prevent drowning," Emma described. When the boat entered the waterfall, it's pushed into the lake below. The boat released anchors to help weigh the boat down. That's when they saw what lied beneath: a city that seemed like an undersea series of complexes.

"It's a city!" gawked Yugi.

"That's incredible!" awed Kari. The sight of many Nokis wowed the crowd.

"All sorts of colored shells the Nokis are wearing," InuYasha noticed.

"I know, and it's beautiful," Kagome admired. The Nokis waived to those in the boat.

"How lucky are we to see an underwater city, let alone meet the locals?" chuckled Haru.

"Tell me about it," Elie laughed. After sometime below the lake, the boat resurfaced. Cameras from some of the vacationers captured the moments.

"These pictures are great," Serena enjoyed as she looked over Kari's shoulder. Others also saw the pictures taken.

"Imagine how the others will react to this underwater discovery," May chuckled. While they saw different pictures, Ash and Pikachu wandered away and to the edge of the island.

"You know, just seeing the underwater city is good enough," Ash scoffed. Pikachu squeaked to agree. They stared at what seemed to be an endless ocean. The sun peeked out where Pikachu felt revived. Then it saw something underwater from the corner of his eyes: a shimmer of some sort reflecting from the sun's rays. Ash saw Pikachu's head, then the shimmer. "What's that?"

("There's two!") spotted Pikachu. ("Let's go see!") Hearing Pikachu's interest made Ash agree.

"Alright… One quick dip shouldn't hurt." After taking his shoes and socks off, Ash dove into the water as Max and Rini watched.

"Ash?" they called. Ash swam headfirst into what shone below. Reaching, he awed the glimmer before turning to Pikachu to swim up with whatever they found. They emerged in front of Max, Rini and Sasami.

"You two okay?" asked Max as Sasami helped Ash out and Rini to Pikachu.

"Found a pair below," he answered. Ash showed the pair to the girls and Max. The three awed their finding while Rachel came over for a question.

"Hey, anyone seen Conan?" she asked. The four glanced to each other before turning back with head shakes. Conan followed Becky and Negi as he focused to see if there were anymore hidden blocks. Becky had a red turtle shell on hand.

"I detect three more blocks," he viewed with a wand glowing. With a point, Becky nodded before kicking the shell. As predicted, the shell revealed more blocks and more Super Mushrooms.

"Nice!" she cheered before the Super Mushrooms rolled to them. Conan came out to see the ordeal.

"What are you two collecting?" he asked. Becky and Negi turned to Conan in surprise.

"After we ate a Super Mushroom each, we want to have some for when we return to the classrooms," Becky explained. Conan now realized how the two became bigger.

"I see. You don't mind if I tried one, do you?" Negi thought it wouldn't hurt to have Conan eat a Super Mushroom.

"Sure…" he allowed. Conan observed the Super Mushroom Negi handed him.

"I should ask TK if there are any other mushrooms on this island." He ate one before swallowing it. "A little sweet." That's when he froze. Like Negi and Becky beforehand, Conan grew while glowing. That's when he became a teenager and looking suave. "What do you know… and no growth pills or liquor to use." Now Negi and Becky wondered the ordeal.

"Liquor?"

"Growth pills?" repeated Becky. Conan now breathed a second to explain.

"Conan Edogawa is a disguise to keep Rachel and everyone I know safe," he clarified. "My real name is Jimmy Kudo, teenage detective." Negi and Becky couldn't believe what he said.

"You're a detective?" repeated Negi.

"It may have been my detective work that got me involved with an organization who gave me an experimental drug that turned me into what I was before."

"Ah, so the form you're now is the true form, not the little squirt?" guessed Becky. As she asked…

"Conan?!" called out Rachel. "Emma's gathering everyone! Where did you go?!" Jimmy saw the scene present itself.

"Why don't you get going before you're spotted," he suggested. Negi and Becky nodded before walking off with their haul of Super Mushrooms. Rachel saw Jimmy and froze.

"Wait… is that?" She reached the new person to her when Jimmy turned around.

"Hey, Rache!" Rachel gawked to seeing Jimmy, her gasp of disbelief echoing.

"Jimmy?" She arrived to see Jimmy as Becky and Negi watched from a hiding spot. "Jimmy, how did you get here? Another secret case?"

"Unfortunately, but I heard from Conan that you're here. I wanted to stop by and say 'hi'." To Rachel, she wanted more.

"You know, I'm hoping that at some point, your cases end and you come home. Everyone misses you, including Serena." Jimmy rested his hands on Rachel's shoulders.

"I don't know how long these cases will go until I finish them. Besides, I want to give you something when I'm not needed anymore. That's a promise." Rachel seemed touched by his words. "I'm gonna be on the island for awhile so I may come by if you need something." Rachel's cheeks blushed while Negi and Becky held hands.

"At least there's something I can do… and I've been holding on for awhile now."

"Oh? What would that be?" Instead of words, Rachel kissed Jimmy in the lips. Both embraced for a while. Rachel parted from Jimmy and returned to the group.

"Smooth operator," Becky teased. "Now I see the romance." Jimmy laughed before the three headed back. They returned to the hotel where Nodoka became teary-eyed. Shū saw Negi's student and approached.

"After seeing Miss Miyamoto holding Mister Springfield's hand, I kinda expected this to happen," he sighed as he offered an orange sorbet. Nodoka looked to find the sorbet, then Shū.

"Thank you," she praised. "So you know what's wrong?"

"It's kinda obvious. This place seems to pair some unusual people together like Max and Rini. What's next?" Nodoka ate the sorbet while Jimmy seemed troubled. Kari and Gatomon came by.

"Hey, Kari!" he called. Kari and Gatomon reached Jimmy.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Do you know where TK is? I wanted to know how to reverse the Super Mushroom's effects." To Kari, Jimmy didn't need TK for it.

"Watching our brothers and friends play video games, I know a thing or two about the Super Mushroom." Jimmy seemed astounded, until he heard Gatomon cracking knuckles.

"This won't take long," she sneered before putting the gloves back on. "Lightning Paw!" Gatomon landed a scratch to Jimmy before he began to glow. In Rachel's room, Amy couldn't sleep as she eyed the empty bed. Not long, Jimmy opened the door, but as Conan to Amy's delight.

"Conan!" she cheered.

"Sorry, Amy," he apologized. "I was with Kari for a few things she wanted to share with me." Amy nodded, knowing Conan didn't have feelings for him.

"Get some rest guys," groaned a sleepy Rachel. Jimmy and Amy agreed and he crawled into bed. There was some noise from Negi's room with moans and groans. After a while, they stopped. Covered in blankets, Becky and Negi snuggled together.

"I never thought I'd have my first time on an island getaway," Becky sighed.

"Same with me, and to think it wasn't with any of my classmates," Negi muttered. "But if we go back to our normal forms, when we get older… we'll know what to do." Becky nodded before falling asleep. Nodoka slept with Shū and the night came to an end.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…

(I'll be taking a break to perform two one-shots featuring two of my previous stories with surprising epilogues for each. Remember to keep voting for what you want to see in "AshMas".)


	13. For Sport

_Chapter 13: For Sport_

* * *

As the new day started, Nodoka still felt abandoned after Negi and Becky found Super Mushrooms and had a night together in their room. Shū arrived in the kitchen with Mesousa to find Nodoka still moping about Negi with Becky. "Don't tell me you're still upset with your professor being with my sister's," he groaned.

"I love Professor Negi!" she whined. "Most of the class that he's teaching loves him! Asuna, Konoka, Ayaka, Chisame, Ku-Fei… even the vampire, Evangeline…" Shū started to feel bad for Nodoka.

"You know, I'm actually glad Rebecca and Negi have happiness, even if it's with each other." Nodoka looked to Shū, a wonder on the reason. "Rebecca couldn't find too much with happiness with her class. I see it as a new lesson for her." Nodoka awed Shū's words.

"Are you implying that Professor Negi's doing Professor Rebecca a favor?" Shū entered the kitchen and started the stove.

"I might… It does sound like your Professor Springfield is nice to his students while my sister's Professor Miyamoto is… a tad hard on hers. What she needed was a gentle touch." Nodoka began to feel bad about seemingly losing her chance to be with her teacher. Shū brewed tea and offered a cup to Nodoka as Ed and Al searched the dining hall, seemingly concerned.

"Hey, have either of you two seen Winry around?" asked Ed. Nodoka and Shū shook heads. Others came to the dining hall and heard about a missing vacationer.

"Winry's missing?" guessed Sasami. As others started to look around, Winry snooped around the hotel's perimeter for the workshop where she viewed Pete and Diego working on FLUDD.

"So, where could that workshop be again?" she asked herself. As she continued, she heard a violin playing with different riffs and keyboard notes. The music played vehemently fast and fluent. This allured Winry to find the workshop.

"Somebody shine a light," a song played out. "I'm frozen by the fear in me; Somebody make me feel alive… And shatter me!" Winry wondered what song's being played as she walked toward the workshop. The song continued while Pete worked on FLUDD.

"DOES DIEGO KNOW OF YOUR LIKING TO VIOLINS?" it questioned.

"It's not the violin, it's who's fiddling it," Pete countered. "One day, I heard her playing 'Crystallize' and now have enjoyed her music." Winry opened the door to see Pete and FLUDD.

"MAY I ASK WHO DOES YOUR PUNS? I BET IT IS NOT EASY TO COME UP WITH SOME OF YOUR SENSES OF HUMOR."

"It's only one, FLUDD." The nozzle turned to see Winry entering the workshop.

"WE HAVE A VISITOR." Pete turned to find Winry, a little startled to have company.

"Miss Rockbell!"

"Sorry, but I heard a violin and wanted to see what's going on," Winry explained. "And it seems you're working on that FLUDD again." Pete glanced to FLUDD as he nodded.

"Yeah, Professor E. Gadd's invention is a piece of work." FLUDD bobbed its nozzle to Winry.

"IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, MISS ROCKBELL," it computed. Winry chuckled to FULDD's greeting.

"By the way, who's this Professor Gadd?" she asked. Pete grabbed a picture and showed it to Winry. It was a small bald aged man with a tooth showing and a tuff of white hair flapping upward. He wore swirling glasses and a white lab coat. Winry cringed.

"That's Professor Elvin Gadd," Pete described.

"Yeah, a little… and old for me."

"And senile at times, but he _is_ one heck of tinkering genius." Winry couldn't believe someone like Gadd could create FLUDD.

"Well, you're working on it now, not this professor."

"Yeah, but Degs and I wouldn't know about it without his blueprints." Pete laid the blueprint of FLUDD down on the table.

"THE PROFESSOR WAS VERY GENTLE WITH BUILDING NOT ONLY ME," it explained. "BUT THE OTHER FLUDD UNITS AS WELL. EVEN EMMA AND NEO HAVE A UNIT EACH." Winry studied the blueprint.

"So that's how one's constructed," she nodded. "If Rosalina didn't give Ed and Al their bodies back, I would've wanted to construct these to those two to clean up their act." Pete remembered Al being in the suit of armor and Ed showing off his metallic arm.

"What was it they had: auto-mail?" he guessed.

"No, only Ed had the auto-mail. Al had his soul attached to the suit of armor." Winry continued to examine the blueprint. "This professor may be out of my league. Still, I think I know what to do about this. After all, I'm a Rockbell who works on auto-mail." Pete understood while Winry saw a steaming cup and checked on it. "What's in here?"

"Chai tea latte. I brewed some before I resumed work on FLUDD. It's steamed milk I put in." Winry took a sip of the latte to Pete's surprise.

"That's so good." She put the cup down and confronted Pete. "Thanks for the blueprint, but…" She reached Pete and kissed him on the lips. Her momentum reached the table and Winry jumped to reach his face better. However, his back gave way and he bent backward, his midsection bowing to the weight. She had her body on top of his chest, his back now bent at a near-90 degree angle and his glasses flipped off his face. That's when Tenchi and Rachel saw Winry breaking Pete's back and started to pull her off.

"Whoa, you're hurting him!" warned Tenchi. He and Rachel pried her off Pete, much to her chagrin.

"Don't, I wanna love him!"

"He's a little old for you, Winry," Rachel scorned. As the two dragged Winry away, Elie saw Pete and feared that he may have been paralyzed from Winry's kiss.

"Pete, you okay?" she asked. "Do you need help?" Pete scoffed the offer.

"I'm good, Elie," he waived off. "This happens all the time." Pete pried himself off the table and straightened his back. Seeing him back to normal, Elie believed Pete wasn't.

"You're not what I call normal…" After eating, TK and Li led most of the group to a basketball court as TK held a basketball in his arm.

"Patamon found this while we scanned throughout the island," TK explained. "It's a good place to see how everyone is at the game." While all saw TK step on the blacktop, Al saw the net to the hoops attached to glass backboards.

"TK, if this is called basketball, why is there a net?" he wondered.

"Funny thing about that, Alphonse," Yugi spoke up. "Back during its early years, players used peach baskets as hoops… and the game was called netball." This left the Elrics, Winry and the little kids confused.

"A basket in netball and a net in basketball?" repeated Rini. Orihime giggled to the confused younger ones.

"It's okay," she assured. "We don't expect anyone to understand. Just have fun." Madison brought out her camcorder to view the action. Yukinari stepped onto the court and faced TK.

"I've played around in gym class," he advised. "Let's see how you do."

"Okay, Yukinari," TK grinned. He passed the ball to Yukinari who passed it back. Both stepped at the three-point line against each other with TK dribbling the ball. Yuna came to the edge of the court to view the game. Dribbling, TK started his way around the arc with Yukinari shadowing his steps. The blond turned the other direction and Yukinari started his way back. TK snatched a moment, he bounced the ball through his and Yukinari's legs, spun back to his right and around his opponent, recovered the ball and drove to the hoop. He laid the ball into the hoop for an easy score. The Digimon awed the move, enjoying the play.

"Good move, TK!" cheered Patamon. Resetting, Yukinari had the ball and checked the pass back and forth to TK.

"Let's see what you got!" Yukinari dribbled to the arc as TK met him.

"Stay calm, Yukinari!" advised Miharu. Yukinari stepped forward but the ball slipped pass his pinkie finger, TK not wasting a fraction of a second to steal. Instead of another drive to the basket, he shot from beyond the three-point line, hitting the backboard before slipping through the net.

"That's a three!" laughed Joey. Sometime later, Serena and May came onto the court.

"I may love Darrien," she smiled. "But I'm having more of an interest to Diego."

"Please, you got him," May scoffed. "Diego will be mine." After the passes, May dribbled to meet Serena before running at her. They collided where Serena fell onto her behind and May on her stomach. Ichigo saw the contact and ruled.

"Offensive Foul!" he judged. "That's a charge!" May moaned at the unfortunate rule.

"So you can't go head-on in this game," Ed studied. "Nice to know!" Serena took the ball before dribbling toward May. She turned her back where May placed her hand on her back. Serena lurched back, forcing May to step back. Clearance, Serena stepped away and turned to shoot from beyond the arc like TK. However, her shot fell short and bounced out of bounds. Joey and Ichigo took to the court next.

"You may be good at Duel Monsters," the Soul Reaper sneered. "But how good are you at a physical game?" He passed the ball to Joey.

"I may play a mental game," Joey scoffed. "But I can be physical when I need to be." He returned the pass before Ichigo started to dribble. Ichigo got his free arm onto Joey's chest. "Whatcha got? Whatcha got?" Ichigo dribbled through his legs, shaking his body to juke Joey before his legs became tangled. He fell with a yelp and Ichigo had a free run to the basket. With a layup, he scored while Joey laid sprawled on the blacktop.

"Ichigo broke Joey's ankles," Ryoko nodded. Serenity heard Ryoko's snicker and dashed to Joey's side.

"Joey, are you okay?" she cried. Max saw the move but questioned Ryoko's word.

"His ankles aren't _really_ broken, are they?" he asked.

"No, it's an expression when someone loses their footing," Chad clarified. Understood, Max nodded. Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu came out of a giant green pipe to find themselves in Delfino Plaza.

"Kari's explanation of the Warp Pipe certainly works wonders on how someone goes place-to-place," he said. Pikachu squeaked to the idea. As they saw the Piantas, Nokis and Toads journeying around, he saw a structure with "GYM" on top. "I highly doubt it's a Pokémon Gym." He peered inside to see a ring with ropes attached to corner posts. There were also dumbells, small and large punching bag and even boxing gloves. This awed the trainer and his mouse. "It's a boxing gym! Who knew one existed on the island?" Pikachu squeaked in awe to it.

"No one's using it, right now," a Pianta explained. "Feel free to use the equipment." To Ash, it's a feeling missed.

"I haven't had a chance to train myself in boxing since before I started Pokémon Training. Thanks!" Ash and Pikachu entered and saw the equipment on display close-up. Meanwhile, Kari, Kuriko and Nefertimon flew into town.

"It's my fault to explain to him about Warp Pipes!" worried Kari. "At least Neo knows where it leads!"

"If I may say something, why aren't we using the pipes and flying our energy away?" criticized Kuriko.

"That would be on me," Nefertimon blamed. "I did want to get a little exercise on flying, so sue me."

"I'll send you the bill! Besides, it's faster if we flew around the Plaza!" Both flew into the Plaza and slowed down to have a thorough search. A minute later, Kari found Ash pounding on the heavy bag. He landed combinations from a short two-punch to as much as seven in one spurt. The girls entered after Nefertimon reverted back to Gatomon.

"It's been so long since I've actually worked on my form," he grinned. He threw hooks, straights, jabs, crosses and uppercuts. Kari, Kuriko and Gatomon awed the form Ash displayed. They couldn't stand back for long.

"Can't you use your feet?" asked Kari. Ash and Pikachu turned to find the two girls and the cat Digimon.

"What's up? I thought you'd be with TK and the rest learning basketball."

"Come on, Ash!" sneered Kuriko. "We like you too much to simply leave you alone." Ash shrugged with his gloved hands on. "By the way, your boxing form is impressive, including your torso movement." Kari whacked Kuriko's side for the remark.

"Hey, a little personal," she warned. Now she turned to Ash. "Anyway, we're wondering what made you take up boxing?" Ash scoffed to a method to explaining.

"I just found it as a way to keep myself in shape and away from my mom from contact," he summed up. "Same with boarding on the hills of Pallet." Kari and Kuriko laughed to Ash's reasoning.

"In other words, keep himself from boredom," Gatomon simplified.

"Yeah… Then again, there is a Pokémon that's a great puncher." This irked the girls as Ash brought out a hand-held device. He selected a tan human-like creature wearing a purple muscle shirt and kilt. His shoulders gave off the look of shoulder pads. Ash hit the play button.

"Hitmonchan, the Punching Pokémon," it computed. "It is rumored that Hitmonchan carries the spirit of a pro boxer, even though it has the will not to surrender." Ash placed the device to the side.

"It's not related but I found myself swinging my fist like a boxer. Heck, I tried Pikachu to box and that didn't turn out well." Pikachu sighed but he had nothing big to say.

"But he's liking how you're demonstrating the moves," Kuriko pointed out. "Maybe you can teach her how to as well?" Kari jumped back, not wanting to learn about violence.

"I'm a soccer player!" she exclaimed. "I know how to kick, not punch!" Ash didn't think it was a problem.

"I can help," he offered. "Let's get you gloved up." Kuriko and Pikachu wanted to watch how it turns out.

"Who knows," Gatomon thought. "Perhaps it may help teach Davis a lesson." Boxing gloves on, Ash guided Kari to the heavy bag.

"Anyone can throw a punch. Let's see you throw one." Kari faced the bag and threw an overhand punch, striking the heavy bag. "Not bad… but let's start small with jabs. Straight and short." Ash showed a few jabs to Kari who copied Ash's moves to the bag. The more punches she landed, the more confidence she gained. Ash demonstrated other boxing moves like shuffling her body back and forth with her arms tucked in. Kuriko and the two animals also joined as they shuffled their bodies to the left and to the right.

"I can certainly give Kazuki a few of your lessons to defend himself, especially with Nakamaru," Kuriko grinned. "You're no Mike Tyson but some nice basic lessons is a start."

"Don't, you'll probably have him bite ears off," Kari reminded. "I'm thinking more Muhammad Ali." Ash and the girls continued learning boxing until they tuckered themselves.

"Davis and Veemon may wanna be careful of us now," Gatomon huffed before she and Pikachu bumped the back of their paws. Kuriko rested her back on Ash's.

"Boxing isn't as close as Judo, but I can feel the burn in my arms," she realized. "Maybe I'm understanding why my heart can't stop beating for you like back at Sunshine Airport." Ash awed Kuriko's confession.

"Really?" he chuckled. "If only Brock were here, he'd see how to befriend someone." Pikachu and the girls laughed. "Suddenly, I'm ignoring my own saying from recently." Pikachu squeaked, confused to Ash's wording. Kari became interested.

"What was it?" she asked.

"Well… No sense going out of your way just to get someone to like you." Pikachu remembered and squeaked in realization. Kuriko and Kari laughed.

"But you didn't go out of your way," Kuriko corrected. "We did!" Ash and Pikachu laughed to the correction.

"I guess so." After closing the boxing gym, they entered the Warp Pipe back to the hotel and see how the rest had fun. That night, Diego had another movie night. The little ones had a new movie while the older ones had one of their own while Chad and Madison joined.

"All these Marvel characters in one movie, I'm so excited to see it!" cheered Serena.

"Oh, my eyes are on Tony!" squealed Winry. "All that technology… It's so awesome!" Yami, replacing Yugi, viewed the movie's current moment.

"Yeah, but that won't mean anything if the Chitauri aren't contained and they can't cut the Tesseract's power," Yami observed. That's when a scooter sounded.

"Banner's here," Joey noted. "Now we need him to transform into the Hulk to give these guys a chance!" Diego watched with a grin.

"Here comes one of my favorite parts," he said.

"Stark?" one man called. "We got him." Another voice spoke up.

"Banner?" he guessed.

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Winry grinned as roars and crashes billowed.

"I-I don't see how that's a party," a woman murmured.

"That goes for the rest of us," Rachel groaned. All eyes watched at the film.

"Doctor Banner," the first man called again. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain," a new man spoke. "I'm always angry." All eyes lit up as roars and smashes echoed with "oohs" and excitement as more crashes sounded. Meanwhile, the other vacationers watched a different movie. There were many cheers as the kids and Chad watched.

"Why aren't you seeing The Avengers like Rachel?" asked Amy.

"I'm not a comic book geek and don't necessarily get into any rivalries like Marvel and DC Comics," Chad explained.

"Hey, looks like those mice are taking over for the sleeping announcer," Max pointed out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the starting lineup for… the Tune Squad!" a man announced. Everyone tuned in. "Standing two-foot-four, the Wonder from Down Under… the Taz-manian Devil!"

"Not exactly the biggest player," Madison giggled.

"At Small Forward… standing at a scintillating three-foot-two, the Heartthrob of the Hoops… Lola Bunny!" Jimmy watched in awe.

"Ichigo might have competition," he snickered.

"At Power Forward, the Quackster of the Court… Daffy Duck!"

"Thank you!" a man's voice quacked. "Thank you!" The place… became eerily silent, making the kids giggle. "Very funny! Let's all laugh at the duck!"

"And at Point Guard… standing three-foot-three- Four feet if you include the ears… Co-Captain of the Tune Squad… Doctor of Delight… Bugs Bunny!" The kids cheered while Chad smiled. "And now, the Player-Coach of the Tune Squad… at six-foot-six from North Carolina… his Royal Airness… Michael Jordan!" Everyone cheered again. Back with the other movie, there were plenty of explosions and crashes to delight the vacationers.

"Nat, what are you doing?" another man from that movie questioned.

"Widow's not looking good," Darrien groaned.

"A little help!" the woman called out.

"Hawkeye's got the shot on Loki!" noted Serenity.

"I've got him…" the man muttered. The vacationers watched and… groaned.

"Nice catch, Loki," Kazuki moaned before an explosion.

"Got him!" cheered Ash. After a moment a roar came out.

"Hulk's coming!" shouted Yuna. There was a crash and a slam before…

"Enough!" another man shouted. "You are… All of you are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by the-" Suddenly, a series of slams echoed with the vacationers cringing at each with awes to boot. Chortles to the action told their reaction to the savage beating.

"Now what, Loki!" taunted Sakura.

"Puny god…" a new voice murmured. After seeing the movies, everyone headed inside and to their rooms. Night had long fallen. All crashed themselves onto beds for another night… or so one would believe. The door to the Pokémon Room opened and a silhouette reached Ash's bedside. A hand reached out to Pikachu and shook it. Pikachu woke up to see a little girl with dark skin and two sets of hair color: brunette between light blue. It also had familiar ears and eyes while wearing a blue dress similar to Sasami's when they first arrived on the island. Pikachu gawked to who woke him.

"Pikachu, go back to sleep," groaned Ash. The girl put a finger over her lip, telling Pikachu not to make a sound. She led the Pokémon out to the hallway where she guided him into the dining hall. She pointed to a keypad below the door… while mewing like…

("You're Ryo-Ohki?") he squeaked. The girl nodded. She tried to reach for the keypad but was short. She begged Pikachu to help with pressing the buttons. Pikachu realized what awaited beyond the door which somehow summoned the theme from "Mission: Impossible." The girl had Pikachu on her head and body on the door. She used fingers to tell what numbers the mouse had to press. Suddenly, there was a small buzz which the girl grew excited. She pointed to the door handle and Pikachu jumped to pull it down. The door opened and revealed the kitchen. Both Pikachu and the girl grew excited. She sniffed out the refrigerator and opened it with all her might. Food and drinks gathered inside, the two cheered to their discovery. The girl pulled carrots from a storage shelf while Pikachu grabbed a tiny bottle of ketchup from the doorway. While enjoying their findings, the girl ate the carrots while Pikachu squeezed ketchup from the plastic bottle. However, peace didn't last long.

"Hold it, you two!" warned Pete. The girl and the Pokémon gawked to seeing Pete, being caught in the act. "Pikachu… but who's this?" The girl confronted Pete and started mewing while gesturing. Pete didn't bite and grabbed the girl by the clothes. Pikachu quickly surrendered.

("I'm sorry…") Pete knelt to Pikachu and put the girl down.

"I get it. You two were hungry, right?" The girl nodded before she transformed. She was Ryo-Ohki. She mewed to apologize for her antics. "Well, at least it's not as bad as Chamo. You two will be with me for the rest of the night, then I'll return you to your owners and explain before I take you to the village tomorrow." Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki felt bad about nearly ruining the vacation for their owners. Pete carried both to his room where the night quieted for good.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…

(Sunday night, we saw tragedy in Las Vegas, NV. I want to give my condolences to the families of the wounded/killed by this new Act of Terrorism. The time to take of gun control begins now, no longer should we wait for one even worse.)


	14. Village Beyond Sight

_Chapter 14: Village Beyond Sight_

* * *

The new morning rose, but not everyone remained asleep. Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki ate with Pete as he enjoyed a cup of coffee. The two rascals broke into the kitchen in the middle of the night but were caught by Pete. "Enjoying breakfast?" he asked. Ryo-Ohki mewed and Pikachu squeaked to the food. InuYasha came into the dining hall to observe the host with the cabbit and the Pokémon.

"What the hell, Pete?" he sneered. "You steal them from Ash and Sasami?"

"More of the other way around. I caught these two digging though the kitchen last night. I didn't recognize Ryo-Ohki from her transformation." InuYasha became skeptical of the information when Sasami entered the dining hall in search.

"I bet it can't do as many transformations as Shippo. Hell, I'd like to see two of you." Pete wasn't sure about InuYasha's word as he sipped on his coffee. Sasami found Ryo-Ohki and raced to her.

"There you are!" she groaned. Ryo-Ohki mewed innocently to Sasami's scorned face. "You know better than to run off in the middle of the night, Ryo-Ohki!" The cabbit mewed frantically for forgiveness. Pikachu feared that he would be scolded for his aiding to Ryo-Ohki. The rest entered to have breakfast and Pete told Ash about Pikachu's shenanigans.

"Pikachu, you know better than that!" scolded May. "Sneaking into the kitchen for ketchup…" Pikachu squeaked sadly to May's upset reaction.

"At least it's minimal," Pete assured. "I believed Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki were simply hungry."

"I don't know why," Ash shrugged. "We have plenty of Pokémon Food in our room." While eating breakfast, Pikachu wandered around the tables, one being Rachel, Jimmy and Amy.

"And seeing Lola teach Bugs about basketball, oh my!" awed Amy.

"I bet seeing Space Jam was fun for the two of you, wasn't it?" guessed Rachel.

"Not to mention watching those aliens take talents from Ewing, Bradley, Barkley, Bogues and Johnson," Jimmy brought up. "I'm not one for basketball. I'm more for soccer instead." Rachel laughed as Pikachu leaped onto the table to see the three.

"Morning, Pikachu! You wanted to hear what Conan and Amy watched?" Pikachu squeaked in interest to the other movie played.

"That's right, you saw The Avengers," Amy recalled as Ed came around.

"We did," he spoke. "I saw Ash get giddy watching Captain America give Hulk an order. Still, Winry fangirling about Iron Man with all that technology…"

"I know, and I still have a headache from her," Rachel groaned as she clutched her head. Jimmy became curious to the scene.

"What did Captain America order?" he asked. Ed recalled the scene.

"He gave Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor and Hawkeye orders before he went, 'And Hulk…' Watching Hulk turn to the Cap, I thought he was a dead man with that growl before he finished with 'Smash!' Hulk's grin…"

"What more can you say?" laughed Rachel. "I do know that we all enjoyed seeing Loki be thrown around by Hulk. I laughed pretty hard."

"The throwing around or Hulk's reply? 'Puny god.' Never thought I'd enjoy that." Amy laughed at Ed's acting. "Though something had bothered me about Winry. Last night, she sat by Pete for the movie." Rachel, Jimmy, Amy and Pikachu glared to each other. They looked to Winry talking with Pete as he petted Luna.

"My scene from Space Jam was with Bupkus getting blown up by Wile E," he started. "Just as Wile E's about to get a pounding Elmer and Sam shot up his teeth while 'Misirlou' played in the background."

"'Misirlou'?" repeated Winry.

"It's a mostly wordless song made famous by the movie Pulp Fiction, not a movie for kids." Winry winced at the thought of what the movie contained that kids weren't able to watch.

"What about the other movie: The Avengers?"

"No question: Hulk throwing Loki around like a ragdoll." After eating, Pete had an announcement. "Alright, we're all going to our last destination: Pianta Village. We'll need to get to Delfino Plaza and to the Shine Gate. I'll make sure of the rest." Everyone got on the Wiggler bus to travel to Delfino Plaza and to the Shine Gate.

"Would've been faster with the Warp Pipe," Gatomon pointed out.

"I don't know," Elie doubted. "I kinda wanted to see this place once more." After stopping at the Shine Gate, everyone stepped out of the Wiggler bus. A pack of red and green Koopa Troopas with wings carried each of the vacationers to the top of the Gate. There, a red pipe stood.

"A warp pipe?" guessed Ichigo. Each one entered the pipe before coming out in a new land. The dark sky looked down on elevated islands over a massively huge crater full of huts and roads. Piantas greeted the vacationers as they viewed the landscape.

"I can see peace around here," Haru smiled. "Even harmony that Musica could get behind." Chain Chomplets circled around the ground in wet tracks. Chamo freaked as he climbed onto Negi's head with Becky by his side.

"Keep those teething things away from me!" he yelped. Becky recalled when Chamo stole underwear from the girls. Diego transformed him into a chew toy for punishment.

"You know, there are some of us who can make this a lot worse for you," she warned. Chamo heard Becky's threat, scoffing as he brought out a cigarette.

"Listen, toots… I'd rather take punishment from you young ladies rather than be a dog toy for growing dogs of iron." Ryoko had an energy sword drawn and

"You sure about that?" she sneered. Fear drove into the ermine's mind. Max came to a few Piantas with Rini, Plue and Patamon.

"It's so awesome to see your homeland," Rini complimented.

"Thank you, little girl," a Pianta praised. "Our strength helps us here or on Isle Delfino." Max became curious to his strength.

"Could you show me?" he asked.

"Of course! Hang on to your glasses!" A Pianta woman wasn't sure about her fellow Pianta wanted to demonstrate.

"Are you sure about this?" she wondered in concern.

"Don't worry, dear. I've got good hands." He picked Max up while Rini watched, worried. "One… two… three!" The Pianta flung Max into the sky so high, Rini shrieked to fear of injury.

"Max!" she cried out. Max continued to climb, impressed with the Pianta's strength.

"And I thought Hariyama was a Pokémon to worry about!" he gawked. When his climb stopped, Max wasn't falling. Yuna flew up to reel in Max.

"Good, I hate to see you fall to your death," she sighed. Max looked down, seeing how high he literally was.

"That's… a scary thought." Yuna descended for Max to land softly on the ground to Rini's relief.

"Max!" she cried while hugging the little brother.

"I'm good, Rini." Yuna knelt and hugged the two little children. Others checked on the Chain Chomplets while Kuriko watched from the back. She didn't suspect Ash behind her. He pulled out a necklace before confronting the blond. The gold chain link necklace had a gold star with eyes like a Luma but not as rotund.

"Kuriko?" he called. Kuriko turned to Ash with the necklace. Seeing the necklace, she gasped.

"Is that for me?" she questioned.

"It's about what happened the few days ago when we were all in the same bed: you, me, Kari and Elizabeth. It's also about what you told me yesterday. I want to say thank you for looking out for me." Kuriko smiled before she knelt and hugged Ash. She felt loved by the necklace as a gift from someone she had a crush on.

"Ash, coming here to meet you… I've never felt so loved in my life." She found Ash's hat without looking and removed it so that she could kiss him. Kari wasn't able to see while watching the Chain Chomplets. Hours later, the group came out of the pipe back to Isle Delfino and down the Shine Gate. Arriving back at the hotel, Emma announced that open-air baths were available. One had the boys, the other had the girls. Most of the girls felt relaxed in the open-air bath, including May, Madison and Elie.

"This is one of those moments where you'd just wanna forget the troubles our worlds are going through," Kagome hummed.

"Yeah, but it's a first to share a bath with other people," Sakura pointed out. "Still, I can't help but awe Rebecca's new size. What, did you eat a mushroom to become that?"

"Duh, a Super Mushroom to be precise," Becky retorted. "I'm a little anxious to see my class react to this look, especially Himeko and Rei." She looked over to find Nodoka glaring up to the dusk sky with a glum look. Serenity came to Nodoka's side.

"Do you mind telling us girls what's wrong?" she wondered. Nodoka sighed before clearing her problem.

"I like Professor Negi," she admitted. "But since Professor Rebecca fell for him first, I feel like I've been betrayed." The other girls like Rachel and Orihime felt bad for Nodoka. To her, she lost her chance to confess to Negi. Amy patted Nodoka on the arm for sympathy.

"Don't be upset," she advised. "You should be happy that you got to meet a lot of people." Nodoka seemed intrigued with Amy's cheerful explanation.

"Besides, Shū told me that you had feelings for him," Gatomon mewed. Suddenly, her fur began to stand up as Nodoka blushed to the idea. "We may have been infiltrated. Hang on." Kari watched her Digimon sniff out a possible intruder. That's when she pounced over a rock and a scuffle took place. The girls watched on, trying to understand the occurrence. "Lightning Paw!" Chamo flew from a strike from Gatomon and into the open-air bath. Elie pulled Chamo from the drink.

"If it isn't the panty-sniffing weasel of an ermine," she scowled. The girls covered up with their arms and sunk themselves from exposure.

"Looks like I found the right place to hang out," he smiled. That's when Elie pointed her tonfa at his head. Sakura had an idea.

"Since he likes the water so much, I'll take care of things with a proper Clow card," she planned. "Don't let him go." Elie nodded before slamming his head to a rock, knocking him out instantly. The ermine floated unconscious.

"That should work," she smiled. That's when Serena noticed two missing young women.

"Girls, where are Kuriko and Ryoko?" she asked. None of the girls knew where the named ones disappeared to. At the boys' open-air bath, the boys relaxed and enjoyed the bath, including the Elrics.

"All this time in that suit of armor, and it's the first time I've shared a bath since," Alphonse sighed with a smile.

"That makes two of us, Al," Ed agreed. "Still, why does it have to be with the other guys?" To the others, it mattered not.

"Relax, Eddie," Ichigo teased. "Just relax and enjoy the bath with us."

"Besides, it's actually refreshing to soak in and discuss with friends," Yukinari added. Max, Conan and Shippo looked to be sleeping as they felt relaxed.

"Those three look zen," Joey pointed out. As they soaked in the bath, InuYasha had a question for Ash.

"Hey, how in the hell did you get that necklace?" he asked. Ash sat up to explain as Pikachu swam around to Tenchi.

"Remember our trip to Noki Bay?" he started. "Well, before we left, Pikachu and I saw something in the water and we dove in to see what it was."

"Really?" doubted Li. "You didn't fork over a lot of money?"

"No, I saw it and I still remembered waking up to Kuriko, Kari and Elizabeth in my bed." Unknowing to the boys, Kuriko and Ryoko viewed them from the clouds.

"Tenchi still looks good without anything on," Ryoko sneered. "Though, I do see some competition. Yugi, Ichigo, Darrien…"

"Ash still looks good after all this time," Kuriko added. Negi had to ask something.

"In a couple of days, we're returning to our worlds," he started. "Are you excited to return to your lives?" Shippo woke to face reality.

"I wish not!" he pleaded. "I do want to stay in this era. I don't wanna face Naraku again." InuYasha didn't want to hear after Shippo and Kilala escaped the Feudal Era.

"You and Kilala will be returning there with us and you'll stay there," he growled. Ash thought about returning back to Pokémon Training.

"To be honest, I'm not so sure now," he surveyed. "I wanna go back, but… after everything here, I'm not so sure." Max heard Ash and guessed on his indecision.

"I bet Kuriko's the reason," he weighed. Darrien snickered and had a reply.

"Wouldn't it be the same with Rini for you?" he pointed out. Even Ryoko and Kuriko snickered to Darrien's point. After the baths, everyone turned in… or so it seemed. As soon as the hotel became quiet, the younger kids sneaked out. Above, a cloaked figure on a broom sprinkled dust onto the hotel. They gathered at a warp pipe and entered, including some of the creatures. On the other side was Gelato Beach. Max, Jimmy, Amy, Rini, Sasami, Shippo, Kilala, Ryo-Ohki and Pikachu gathered for a night together with their own sleeping bags. All had snacks on hand while the creatures frolicked on the sands.

"I think if there's a way to stay together, we should do so," Rini suggested. "Conan, Amy, Shippo, Max and I can stay and grow up, get ourselves married…" The rest laughed to Rini's planning.

"Rini, you're getting ahead of yourself," Jimmy laughed. "But you're right, we've had a lot of fun in these two weeks."

"Time flies when you're having fun," Sasami noted while picking Shippo from the sand. "While I didn't quite succeed in what Ayeka wanted me to do, I do have a consolation in mind." Shippo blinked to the turquoise-haired girl's idea.

"What do you mean?" he asked, sweating. Without a word, Sasami gave Shippo a kiss between the eyes. The fox child's cheeks became red while the other four laughed to his embarrassment. Just then, all of the kids and creatures tucked themselves into different bags with Sasami sharing hers with Shippo and the other four snuggled with one another: Amy with Jimmy and Rini with Max. The cloaked figure came to the beach to see the group.

"Now, King Bowser can have a few more humans to torment since Princess Peach cannot be touched," he grinned as he brought out a wand. However, he wouldn't use it. A hand snagged it. The turtle in the cloak turned to see Chad. Quickly, he panicked. "Hold on! I put a sleeping spell over the hotel! You should be part of the sleeping!" Chad shook his head before throwing the cloaked fiend clear from the island. Once he vanished, Chad broke the broom. He then came over to the kids, palming Sasami's head.

"I'll protect you all," he promised. The moon shone on the two. The light allowed Chad to look up before seeing a woman descending. Rosalina came for a second visit.

"Thank you, Yasutora Sado," she praised. "I know that these children will be protected." Chad glared to Rosalina, amazed at her appearance.

"Have you come by to see these kids, Rosalina?"

"Not only that but thwart Magikoopa's plans. However, you did the work for me." Chad bobbed a nod to the owner of the Comet Observatory. Then a glow. Both looked to see Sasami glowing.

"Is something wrong with Sasami?" Before Rosalina could wonder…

"Sasami is alright," a voice spoke out. Chad and Rosalina looked to where the voice spoke from. Floating over the ocean was a turquoise-haired woman like Sasami, only no pigtails. She wore a gray robe.

"Who might you be?" asked Rosalina.

"My name is Tsunami. I'm a goddess from the planet Jurai, the home of Sasami and Ryoko. In fact, I'm a part of Sasami." This irked Chad and Rosalina.

"By a part of Sasami…" started Chad.

"I assimilated her after her fatal injury. She's alive because of me. One day, we'll be one." Tsunami floated to Chad. "Young man, I do fear for Lord Tenchi but I praise your duty to protect the princess." Chad nodded, accepting the responsibility. Tsunami finished with a kiss to the lips, making the big man blush. "And Rosalina… The Lumas are fun to have around. Spread them where they wish to go, anyone to meet." Rosalina nodded.

"I'll be sure," she promised. Tsunami smiled before fading away. "Yasutora…" Chad now looked to Rosalina who kissed him on the forehead. She began to float back up with Lumas waiting. "You now have my blessing." She flew to the sky and disappeared. Chad looked up with a smile. He'll be with the kids tonight as the day ends.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	15. Delfino Love

_Chapter 15: Delfino Love_

* * *

Gelato Beach wasn't expecting the vacationers to have a camp out on the sands. Max, Rini, Jimmy, Amy, Sasami, Shippo, Kilala, Ryo-Ohki and Pikachu slept together on the beach with Chad watching the group. Waking first, Rini crawled onto Max and repeatedly kissed him on his face. The kisses woke Max from his sleep and smiled. "Morning, honey…" she greeted. Max laughed before he returned a kiss himself. When they broke, they saw colors of bodies around.

"Who's joined us?" he asked. The two sat up to find multiple colored Yoshis hanging around the vacationers. The dozen Yoshis brought all sorts of fruit for the young ones. "Guys! We have Yoshi company!" Sasami, Jimmy, Amy, Shippo and the creatures stirred to see themselves surrounded by the dinosaurs. Each Yoshi cheered to welcome the kids with fruit to hand out: apples, bananas, grapes, watermelons, papayas, pineapples… a smorgasbord of fresh food for the kids and Chad as he stirred to an offer by a white Yoshi.

"Thanks," he accepted before taking a bite of a berry. The kids and most of the creatures became excited to share fruit with the Yoshis. Ryo-Ohki rejected each.

"All this fruit!" awed Sasami.

"I know!" agreed Amy. "And these Yoshis are sharing it with us!"

"Thanks, guys!" praised Max. All but Ryo-Ohki had their fair share of fruit to eat.

"Thanks for the food!" they greeted. The green Yoshi squawked to the others about something but no one understood what it was. That's when the Yoshis knelt for each to ride on. Jimmy believed their expectation.

"The Yoshis must be wanting to give us a ride back to the hotel," he guessed. Red Yoshi confirmed with its own hoot. Chad came over to help the kids onto the Yoshis: Max rode Green, Rini rode Pink, Sasami rode Light Blue, Jimmy rode Blue, Amy rode Red and Shippo rode Orange. Pikachu rode with Max, Ryo-Ohki with Amy and Kilala with Sasami. Meanwhile, the other vacationers woke to find missing members. All stepped out of the hotel in search for those missing.

"Max!" called out May.

"Pikachu!" shouted Ash.

"Conan!" yelled Rachel. "Amy!"

"Shippo!" cried out Kagome. "Kilala!"

"Hey, Ryo-Ohki!" shouted Tenchi. "Sasami, where are you?!" They called repeatedly, even Ichigo.

"Chad!" he shouted.

"Rini!" both Serena and Darrien yelled. This worried the rest as they stood and watched.

"We should help out," Yuna suggested. "I know we have no one else but…"

"I know," Haru murmured. Luna sprinted to Ash with a plan.

"Ash, let me ride your bird," she ordered. Ash heard Serena's cat and nodded, hoping she'd help with finding their friends.

"Swellow will give us plenty of aerial coverage," he briefed. "Let's do that." As he reached for a ball, calls of the Yoshis echoed. All turned to see the rainbow of Yoshis coming by. On some of the Yoshis were the missing vacationers.

"Hey!" shouted Shippo. He rode on top of the Orange Yoshi. Knowing now, Ash, May, Rachel, Orihime, Ichigo, Kagome, Tenchi, Ryoko and Serena came to meet up with those who strayed from the hotel. Orihime and Ichigo suspected Chad joined the kids to keep them safe.

"Were you supervising the little ones?" the redhead wondered.

"I felt they needed protection," Chad clarified. Ichigo, coming over, snickered to his friend's aid.

"Suddenly, Chad," he started as he patted Chad on the shoulder "I wouldn't mind if you were my child's godfather." The compliment gave Chad a chance to smile.

"It would be an honor… Ichigo. Though I was able to meet up with Rosalina last night while watching over the kids." Feeling they knew who Chad referred to, Serenity, Winry and Kazuki met him.

"You met Rosalina?" questioned Winry.

"And with a Luma by her?" added Serenity. Chad blinked to Serenity's questioning.

"I did. Rosalina gave me and the kids her blessings." Kazuki, blessed with immunity from death vie magic use, praised Chad.

"I'm glad you came to Isle Delfino with the rest of us," he granted.

"Appreciated, Kazuki." Chad saw Rachel with Jimmy and Amy and the elder wasn't too happy with the younger two.

"Do you two have any idea how worried I was about waking up this morning and finding neither one of you in your beds?" scolded Rachel. "You were well-behaved up to this point! Tomorrow's the last day, and here I am trying to have a good time with everyone before we left!" Jimmy and Amy felt terrible about the stunt. Chad came to Rachel and patted her shoulder. Rachel turned to the big man.

"Listen, you guys were attacked by a minion. I was there to make sure nothing happened." Rachel wasn't aware and now felt grateful to Chad before nodding.

"I'm not sure I buy into it, Chad," InuYasha scowled. "I'd rather Souta or even Kikyo than these two scowling this timeline!" By the scruff, he lifted Shippo and Kilala who struggled.

"Let me go!" the fox child yelled. Kilala put up no fight.

"Why should I after you ran off like that?!" Kagome saw enough.

"InuYasha…" she softly called. InuYasha shuttered as he turned to Kagome. "Sit!" The chant sent InuYasha to the ground hard, knocking him out and releasing Shippo and Kilala, the latter running to Al. Serena and May weren't happy about Max and Rini.

"I understand that you love Max but that doesn't give you an excuse to run away like that!" the blond berated.

"Did you seriously think I wouldn't tell Mom and Dad about you scampering off like that?" the brunette scowled. "That's something I'd expect from Ash, not you!" Max chose to stand and challenge May and Serena.

"At least Ash and I can take care of ourselves," he struck back. "You still have a lot to learn about being a Pokémon Coordinator, let alone let you go on your own accord." Now he turned to Serena. "As for you… and from I learned from Rini, you still have a lot to learn about everything. I'd rather take Rini away somewhere we can have a time while you two fawn over a host." Rini awed Max's stance while May and Serena shuttered in thought. Rini tugged on Max's arm.

"Let's go!" she urged. Both made their way back to the hotel. Sasami apologized to Tenchi and Ryoko for the shenanigan.

"As long as you're alright, Sasami, there's nothing to worry about," Tenchi accepted. Chad came over with other information.

"By the way, I also met Tsunami," he reported. "A goddess inside Sasami that I've heard." Tenchi, Ryoko and Sasami gasped to the news.

"The Jurian goddess?" the cyan-haired named. Chad nodded.

"She told me that in the future, she and Sasami will be one." Tenchi nodded to Chad.

"The assimilation…" he determined. "We have friends back home and friends here as well. As long as she's happy, she'll be fine." Chad promised to be sure of Sasami's sake. Back at the hotel, Diego worked on some pastelitos for the group while Pete cleaned dishes. With pastelitos done and ready to eat, Diego removed his apron and alerting Pete.

"Degs?" he called. "You done?"

"Yep," Diego confirmed. "I still have to finish my project for tonight's last dinner." Pete nodded and continued to clean. As Diego got to the door, Rini and Sasami emerged.

"Hi!" greeted Rini. Diego and Pete seemed surprised about the visit.

"Rini, Sasami… How can I help you two?"

"We wanted to know if you can do a favor for us," Sasami sweetly requested. "Is it alright if you bake us some cookies for when we go home? I'm sure our friends would like them." Diego laughed to the request. He patted both heads while Pete watched.

"I'd be more than happy to… and you'll get them before you go home. I'm almost done with my project for tonight, I can muster time to make batches for the trip." Rini and Sasami became ecstatic at the favor granted and hugged Diego.

"Thank you, Diego!" they cheered before kissing him on each cheek. Pete snickered to seeing the love given to his colleague.

"By the way, let me tell you that project." Rini and Sasami grew interested and huddled with Diego to learn the secret. The girls giggled to the surprise waiting tonight. Back outside, Kazuki, Yuna, Yukinari and Miharu joined to have a chat.

"Listen, Yukinari," Kazuki started. "You shouldn't let the past take control of your life. One day, you'll get over the allergy."

"I know, Kazuki," Yukinari hoped. "Either way, Miharu will be by my side." Miharu patted Yukinari on the head. "By the way, what about Kuriko? I'm sure she'd do anything to get at Ash instead of you."

"I'm not too worried," Yuna smiled. "Kuriko's mainly after Kazuki for his magical lineage. It's a nice break to see her go after someone else, though I'd rather have it be someone like Musica or Chad or Joey, not Ash." That's when Miharu saw a pair together.

"Speaking of Mister Chad," she pointed out. The others saw Chad and Serenity together.

"I wanted to thank you again for watching over the little ones last night," she praised.

"Why?" questioned Chad. "You didn't have anyone aside from Yugi and your older brother."

"Yes, but still… I wanted to let you know that while I also took care of Pikachu, I've admired you for all you've done to keep everything in place." Chad nodded before looking out to sea.

"I still have to honor abuello, though." Serenity blinked to the name.

"Abuello?" Chad brought out a medallion to show Serenity.

"My dedication to my late grandfather in Mexico. He taught me about holding my anger back. He's the reason I've become nice around my friends." Serenity gazed at the medallion while getting close to Chad.

"Maybe… if there's a chance for the two of us to become a family together, whether it's in my home of Domino City or yours of Karakura Town." Chad blushed to Serenity's wish.

"If there is a chance…" Serenity smiled. Meanwhile, May met up with Al.

"Still getting use to having your old body back?" she asked. Al turned to May with a curious look.

"I've about got it back on point to before the taboo alchemy," he explained. "I'm glad to be back in my own body on this trip. Same with Ed." May believed Al to how he's adjusted to the renewed body.

"I know you want to show it to that May girl back in Central. After all, she wouldn't notice now that you're no longer in the armor." Al looked at his body.

"It may scare her. Can I say something?" May nodded to let Al speak. "Your friend is the one who helped me, Ed and Den get our bodies back. I can't thank him enough for all he's done." May had more she wanted off her chest.

"Besides, seeing you without the armor, you're a lot more handsome than Ash would ever be. I would've been happy for both and wanted to stay with the two of you." Al laughed before May shut him up with a kiss to the lips. Winry, watching from afar, laughed to the sight.

"Now I'm not sure which May Al will want," she teased as she turned to see Madison with TK. Behind were Becky, Negi, Shū and Nodoka talking to each other.

"I would love to record the DigiWorld," Madison wished. "All sorts of creatures to see… and I'd want to help with your group whenever possible." TK rested his hands on Madison's shoulders while Kari watched.

"If there's a way for that to happen, I'm sure Matt and Sora would like to have you as support. Besides, you've been there for me since we met at the airport." Madison's response had her leap onto his body for a hug.

"I still wanna be with you, here, your place or my place!" Kari smiled to TK and Madison's hug, though brief. She walked to the beach and glared out to the ocean. Ash came to the beach to find the brunette.

"You okay?" he asked, Pikachu squeaking. Kari turned to Ash as Gatomon and Pikachu met up.

"There's still time to build a sandcastle," she suggested. Pikachu squeaked to the idea and joined her. Kari turned back to the ocean.

"Don't you love Kuriko?" she questioned. "She's been with you since we first arrived on this island." Ash remembered the first day when Kuriko hugged him after arriving at Sunshine Airport.

"She wants me. Same about you that I've noticed." Kari turned to Ash, surprised.

"You knew?" Ash nodded to the question.

"I can tell. You're also upset about TK?" Kari shook her head.

"TK and I… we're just friends. I know, our Digimon become angels, and we're part of both generations of Digidestined. It's just… As soon as we've had time to talk, you and Kuriko…" Ash rested a hand on Kari's shoulder, having her turn to him.

"It's okay. If you like me, just say so." To Kari, Ash didn't mind if someone liked him before her.

"I want to do more than like you. Thanks." She hugged Ash which he clicked something around her neck. Hearing the click, Kari broke away and found herself wearing a silver chain necklace with a pearl-colored emblem of a Shine Sprite. She saw the necklace and gasped. "What!? How did-" Like Kuriko yesterday, Ash told Kari about where he found the necklace.

"Remember when we all shared the bed together? Well, when I dove by Noki Bay, I found that and another necklace while diving. You also looked out for me like when Petey attacked and when you and Kuriko found me boxing. Consider it my way of saying 'Thanks' for a great time here." Kari became smitten.

"I wanted to do this for a long time… If not TK, then you." She gave Ash a deep kiss. She didn't want to remove her lips and her tongue poked through his cheek. Ash took in the kiss like Kuriko as Joey and Ryoko watched. As they broke, scream echoed from above. A giant flying spaceship fired lasers at the vacationers. Ichigo, Li, Musica and Yami were among those got knocked down by the lasers. A beam scooped up the women and girls. All but Ryoko were taken. She flew back to InuYasha and have a sword made of energy. Above was a pink boar with a spiked armadillo shell and bull horns.

"Lord Fawful, maidens we have!" it snorted.

"Excellent, Midbus," a squawk echoed. "I HAVE CHORTLES!" Midbus lifted a jar with a black blob with red eyes and a wide grin.

"What the hell!?" roared Ryoko.

"Fink-rats, maidens of young and beauty reborn the mighty Lord Fawful! Since Fawful's fall against fink-rats of red and green, Fawful find ways to stay with life. The Dark Star keeps Fawful here! Midbus has hands to build devices so that Fawful uses them to return to nasty form!" Haru brought out his Ten Commandments and leaped.

"You're not taking those girls, anywhere!" he shouted. Midbus fired a laser which hit Haru who flew and knocked Ash onto the sands and then the water. It fired one more beam, catching Kari.

"Help!" she cried. When she entered the origin of the beam, Fawful and Midbus felt satisfied.

"That's enough replacement for Princess Peach," Fawful explained. "Midbus, we regain power at Corona Mountain!" The ship sped away to the mountain as the hosts came out.

"Did we just hear Fawful?" asked Diego.

"Those bastards kidnapped the girls!" growled InuYasha, Darrien holding him up.

"I thought he was destroyed within Bowser, along with Dark Bowser! How in the world…?" Ash and Haru made it back to the rest of the men.

"Do we know where they've taken the girls?" questioned Emma. TK came forward.

"They said Corona Mountain," he cringed. Pete knew what to do.

"Emma, treat the boys for any wounds," he commanded. "Degs, take them to Corona Mountain." What could Fawful and Midbus have planned for the girls? Can the boys rescue the girls from harm?

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED… IN 2018.

(This and the One Piece story are being put on hold for now and will resume with conclusions in January. In the meantime, continue to vote as the 7th Volume of "The 12 Elements of Ashmas" will begin.)


	16. It Gets Fawful From Here!

_Chapter 16: It Gets Fawful From Here!_

* * *

Ryoko and the boys were on the Wiggler bus for an emergency: Fawful and Midbus kidnapped the girls and took them to Corona Mountain. Emma, Pete and Diego raced to the mountain. "It doesn't make sense!" growled Diego. "How is Fawful alive?" Interested to know, Musica came forward on the bus to ask. Diego about the issue.

"I hate to ask, but who's Fawful anyway?" he wondered.

"Fawful was once a member of the Beanbean Kingdom who loyally followed a fiend named Cackletta who wanted to use Princess Peach's voice to awaken the Beanstar and grant her wish. However, Mario and Luigi stopped Fawful and destroyed Cackletta within Bowser. When he reemerged in the Mushroom Kingdom, he was in possession of the Dark Star and became powerful, but Mario and Luigi destroyed him inside Boswer's gut." This left questions open about Fawful's arrival if the stories about him were factual.

"You're saying he's destroyed, but how is he still alive?" asked Kazuki.

"I don't know, and I bet Degs has no clue about it either," Pete believed. Diego confirmed with a nod.

"Right now, the only thing that matters is rescuing the girls," Ichigo pointed out.

"If it's Ayeka, I'd be forgoing this adventure," Ryoko scoffed. "Sasami's another case."

"Either way, we need to get in, stop Fawful and rescue our friends," TK planned. The bus stopped by a doorway a few ledges up. Everyone got off, Ichigo in his Soul Reaper outfit.

"We need to get up there?" asked Joey.

"This is the entrance to Corona Mountain," Emma explained. "It'll be tricky to get up there." InuYasha growled, knowing Kagome needed to be rescued.

"I don't care what happens," he roared. "I'm not gonna let some maniac take Kagome and do whatever he wants to her!" The boys climbed the ledges and entered the cave. They saw a river of lava and a series of platforms.

"We'll need to jump across all those platforms to reach the other side," Darrien explained.

"Easier said than done," Tenchi gulped. To Ryoko, an obstacle she could avoid.

"Tenchi and I'll see you on the other side!" she cheered as she picked Tenchi up and flew over the platforms. TK decided to follow suit.

"Patamon, let's fly!" he ordered. Patamon nodded before TK brought out two devices. The screens on both hand-helds began to glow, alongside Patamon. "DigiArmor Energize!" Patamon began to morph.

"Patamon Armor Digivolve to… PEGASUSMON, flying Hope!" he shouted. Patamon turned into a horse with wings and gold plating around the head, wings, chest and hooves. TK mounted Pegasusmon who had a suggestion. "TK, I think we can let one more board with us before we cross this lava river." TK nodded before turning to the group.

"Come on, Max!" His name called, Max ran to TK who helped him mount. Ryoko and Pegasusmon flew over the platforms. Others jumped from platform to platform, some shooting spikes where Kazuki and Yukinari avoid getting skewered. Ash crossed the platforms first before he helped others across. The land between the two ponds of lava stored the men as Ryoko flew Tenchi and Pegasusmon flew TK and Max to the next land, they had a problem as all that stood were pillar protruding out of the molten rock.

"Part one wasn't much of a cakewalk," Joey spoke.

"Now what?" spoke Shu. "No way we're gonna cross it like Jesus."

"I may know a spell to freeze the lava but it's temporary," Negi offered. "And considering the length of the pond, we won't make it before the ice breaks." This presented an idea from Jimmy.

"Let's see if maybe the Super Mushrooms could increase your magic!" he suggested as he dug in his pockets. He pulled two of the Super Mushrooms and handed one to Negi.

"It's worth a try." Before he could devour the mushroom, Haru had a suggestion of his own.

"Maybe we won't need it," he thought as he reached the edge and looked to the fliers. "Ryoko! Pegasusmon! See if you can knock down the supports!" Ryoko and TK bobbed nods before facing a straight line of supports. Ryoko gathered energy and fired beams of red light that ruptured the connection between the supports and the ceiling.

"Star Shower!" shouted Pegasusmon. Stars came out of his wings and raided the bottom of the supports before falling into the lava. Everyone stood back as the splashes landed on the small strip of land. Ed and Al came forward, ready to help out.

"Let's make use of this!" the elder brother sneered. Both clapped hands and then the supports. A massive glow illuminated the volcano before it dimmed. The knocked down supports turned into a rock bridge.

"Alright, Edward!" cheered Yukinari. "You, too, Alphonse!" The Elrics led the rest across the bridge as Jimmy and Negi ate the Super Mushrooms. They transformed, becoming taller. The boys reached the other side and looked up, finding clouds above them.

"There's no way those clouds are gonna hold us," Li doubted.

"We can't just end our journey like this!" cried Shippo. Yugi didn't think this ended the rescue.

"I don't think so," he growled before his pyramid was aglow. "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Yugi transformed to Yami, ready to make a plan. "Li, I know you're also a Clow Card user. You must have a card that can take us to the sky above." Li nodded and skimmed through his deck.

"Luckily, I borrowed Sakura's cards before leaving for here," he explained as he pulled "THE FLY" and handed to Yami. The pharaoh nodded before giving it back and dug through his deck. He pulled out a card with a monster with after-images behind him.

"Since you and Sakura can make these creatures appear, combine our cards and give us wings to save our friends." Li seemed unsure about the offer. He brought out a straight double-edge sword and flicked the cards up.

"Summon… The Fly!" He pierced at both cards. "Release and multiply!" Swirling winds cocooned the boys before wings appeared on their backs.

"Yug, you're a genius!" cheered Joey. "Now we can show Fawful who he messed with." All seemed ready to fly when…

"Before we do," Darrien spoke before presenting a rose. In a quick flash, Darrien now sported a tuxedo, top hat and white eye mask. "There we go..." Ryoko wasn't impressed with Darrien's transformation.

"Seriously..." she scoffed. Regardless of Darrien's new look, Ryoko and the boys flew up and what seemed like the hole in the mountain was a giant platform. When the rescuing party arrived, they viewed a giant machine operated by Midbus. The girls were in capsules attached to the machine. Fawful turned around to find the party with weapons ready.

"Great ketchup!" he snarled. "Fink rats that can fly?!" Midbus came out of his seat and stomped to meet the men and Ryoko. "Must you ruin rebirth of greatness? The mustard of your doom is about to spread on bean dip of the Mushroom Kingdom!" The heroes became confused with his ramble.

"Does anyone have a clue on what he's saying?" asked Ichigo.

"I'd wish," Max gulped. Seeing the heroes, the girls called out to them. Serena and Rini saw Darrien not as himself.

"It's Tuxedo Mask!" they cried out.

"Serena!" called out Darrien. "Rini, are you two okay?" Others wailed to their friends.

"The spoiled milk of a glory to the return of the Fawful-ish body I cleverly controlled to rule the Mushroom Kingdom like peanut butter on birthday car!" sneered Fawful. "I HAVE FURY!" Jimmy figured out the reasoning.

"Now it makes sense," he spoke up.

"Mind telling us?" asked Edward. "We don't speak crazy."

"He's using our girls to restore his body to when it was."

"Oh, doth the smart fink rat!" scoffed Fawful. "But doth forget my creamy center is what eyes billow upon! Beauty beckons the signal of refinery to the host lost with the Dark Star! Peach wasn't on speed dial… but rain showered me to these lovely fink rats for sandwich a plan-burger to restore body and Dark Star!" Those with swords geared for battle. "But now it's on! Face the mustard of your doom!" Midbus got on the machine as he fired energy cannonballs. All cleared out before the cannonballs hit. The capsuled revved and something began draining the girls. The boys launched a counterattack.

"Wind Scar!" bellowed InuYasha as he swung his attack. Midbus fired sound-waves at the Wind Scar, canceling the attack. Meanwhile, Max and Darrien plotted a way to reach Serena and Rini.

"I'll get his attention," Darrien plotted. "You break Rini out and bail,"

"But I need something to break her out!" he complained before remembering something Ash had. "I know! Hey, Ash!" Hearing his name called, Ash turned to Max. "Let me use Corphish!"

"You got it!" he agreed before getting his Pokémon out. "Corphish! I choose you!" Corphish emerged and seemed ready to help. "Get to Max and listen to his instructions!" The Ruffian Pokémon got to Max's side as Darrien got set.

"Go!" he ordered. Darrien led, diverting Fawful's attention. He threw a rose like a dart, Midbus threw a piece of debris and intercepted the rose. It bought Max and Corphish enough time to where he reached Rini's capsule.

"Corphish, use Crab Hammer!" he commanded. Corphish's claw became white before smashing the glass and freeing Rini who fell onto him. Stirring, she found who she laid upon.

"Max?" she gawked.

"We need to go!" Rini nodded before Max saw Serena struggling. "Corphish, one more time!" Corphish smashed the glass, freeing Serena who the two younger ones caught. Negi and Yami distracted Fawful and Midbus enough for Darrien to reach Serena.

"I'll take it from here," he suggested. "You take Rini and leave."

"But Tuxedo Mask!" pleaded Rini.

"I'll make sure she's safe," Max promised before he took Rini from the battlefield. Seeing Pegasusmon still around, Max nodded to what he needed. "TK, I need to borrow Pegasusmon!"

"Alright" he allowed. Pegasusmon knelt to let the little ones on him.

"Hang on tight!" he neighed. He flew down and away, returning to Pete and Diego back at the bus. With Rini and Max safe, Darrien handed Serena a brooch with a crystal in it.

"We'll need your power, Serena!" he opted. Serena took a second to think.

"Alright!" she accepted as she took the brooch. "Moon… Crystal… Power!" Serena became aglow for a minute as she transformed. By the time she reappeared, she wore a white sailor outfit with a blue miniskirt, blue shoulder cloth with a red ribbon in front, white arm-length gloves, circled smooth rubies poking from her pigtailed knots and knee-high red high-heeled boots. Lastly, a gold tiara formed on her forehead with a red gem in the point. Fawful seemed surprised while Midbus gawked.

"What cackled the spray of Cackletta's gourmet funeral?!" he gawked.

"That would be me, Fawful… I am… Sailor Moon! The champion of love and justice! In the name of The Moon, I shall right wrongs and-"

"I hate to ruin your dialogue but we need to stop those two freaks before those girls lose everything," Ryoko reminded. Serena mulled to the ruined speech.

"Whatever..." Fawful's body began to take shape: a green bean for a head and wearing a black rubber suit with a red cape. He also wore spiraling specs.

"Witness, the ruler of Mushroom Kingdom's new big cheese to gourmet his pizza of domination!" he laughed. "I HAVE CHORTLES!" To Alphonse, seeing Fawful had him rejoin Edward.

"Say, Ed," he whispered. "Don't you think he's a… little short?"

"And older, Al," Edward added. "I guess I should feel a little better now."

"Ah, but the size of Beanbean has more toppings on the potato than you'd ever eat!" scoffed Fawful. He brought out two laser guns and blasted away. Jimmy slipped before one shot tagged him. As he fell to the ground, he morphed back to Conan, and Rachel and Amy saw it as Jimmy writhed in pain.

"Hold on…" gulped Rachel. "It's Conan?"

"Wha- What's going on?" asked Amy. Chad reached Jimmy and assessed his pain. Yami had Dark Magician by his side as he and InuYasha planned.

"We're not gonna reach Kagome like this!" growled InuYasha. Tetsusaiga began to form shards. Yami saw the transformation.

"Is something wrong with Tetsusaiga?" he questioned.

"I'm ready to give Fawful a little Adamant Barrage." Yami smiled as he pulled out a card.

"Since I have Dark Magician, this requires a trick." InuYasha sneered, hoping for it to work.

"Be my guest." Yami revealed a card with knives on a path.

"With Dark Magician here, I'll use Thousand Knives!" A series of knives appeared out of thin air. "Fire!" InuYasha waited until the knives passed by.

"Here goes! Adamant Barrage!" Shards of Tetsusaiga flung, they flew in the same path. Midbus curled up and spun, knocking the knives and the shards away.

"Dull cuts!" it growled. Kazuki and Yukinari snagged several shards and reached the capsules.

"Miharu!" cried Yukinari. He smashed the glass with a shard, freeing Miharu who collapsed. Kazuki smashed Yuna's capsule and carried her away. Midbus charged at Ash but he had a plan.

"Torkoal, Iron Defense!" he shouted. Torkoal emerged before hiding inside his shell.

"Crush iron!" roared Midbus. Jimmy recovered from injury and raced in after turning a dial on his sneaker.

"Get crushed yourself!" he shouted as he punted Torkoal. The kick launched Torkoal into Midbus' roll. The power of the kick broke the creature from its roll and Torkoal emerged from inside, ready for more.

"I've never had rump roast, but you'll be first," Ash sneered. "Torkoal, Over-"

"Wait!" called out Joey. "Let me give that flamer a little extra fuel!" He pulled out a card with a sword on fire, a lizard wrapping around the blade. "I play Salamander!" A flame surrounded Torkoal as Midbus tried to recover. "Now!"

"Torkoal, Overheat!" Torkoal billowed out a white flame which engulfed Midbus. He roared in pain as his entire body became incinerated by the intense flame. All that remained were ashes of a revived minion.

"A useless body of deli," Fawful criticized. Now, the focus turned to Fawful. "You cannot stop the meal of domination! I, Fawful, will feast on the fink rats that show no flavor of loyalty!" He began to morph and grow. He now was a giant black bean with red eyes. "Now, face the mustard of extinction!" That's when Ichigo had an idea.

"Take out the eyes, and we got him," he planned. All nodded before spreading out. Pikachu got to Serena's side.

"His eyes, huh?" she repeated. "Pikachu, I'll need a shocker for my attack!" Pikachu nodded, ready to help out. She removed the tiara from her head and it became a disc of light. "I got one shot! Moon… Tiara… Magic!" She flung the disc. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Pikachu fired Thunderbolt, striking the disc which appeared to gain speed. It hit one eye and delivered a blast of electricity. Haru blazed out of nowhere with his Ten Commandments glowing orange.

"Here comes a nasty poke!" he roared. "Explosion!" He swung and blasted the other eye. "Ichigo! Go for it!"

"Alright!" replied Ichigo. He brought Zangetsu out and faced the fiend. "Ban… kai!" A whirlwind surrounded Ichigo for a few seconds before he emerged, his robe covering his entire body. His Zangetsu appeared thinner. "Tensa… Zangetsu!" He charged and in a split second, broke the remaining capsules.

"No!" shouted Fawful. That's when Ichigo emerged once more.

"You're dead!" In a flash, Ichigo delivered a series of strikes. When he came back, he stood by Serena as his body became confetti. Every piece of Fawful became slivers lying on the platform. Everyone reached the girls now freed, but it looked to be too late. After a minute, the color of the girls, being pale from the energy drained, returned. All began to wake up. Seeing Ash, Kari and Kuriko dove onto Ash, the boy they fell for.

"Ash!" they cried. All met up with friends and family. The girls soon got on their feet.

"Okay, everyone!" spoke Yami. "Let's return to the surface." All began their return down Corona Mountain. To Rachel and Amy, they wondered why Jimmy and Conan was one of the same. Kari and Kuriko may need to decide who's best for Ash. They're returning to the hotel for the last night together.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	17. Beach the Last Dance

_Chapter 17: Beach the Last Dance_

* * *

After the ordeal with Fawful and Midbus, everyone returned to Sirena Hotel to enjoy the last night of their stay before going home. Rachel and Amy wanted answers from Jimmy after returning to the hotel with Luna watching. "So, what you're telling us is that a pair of men from an organization jumped you and fed you an experimental poison," Rachel repeated Jimmy's story. "But instead of killing you, it shrunk you into an 8-year-old?"

"That's what happened," Jimmy confirmed. "Anita would testify as well. She's a former member who's poisoned with the same drug." Amy gasped to the knowledge of another child.

"You mean she's once a bad guy? Or… bad girl?" she guessed.

"I'm afraid so. Nothing against you, but I had to protect you guys from getting involved and I don't wanna think about what would happen if the organization got a hold on you for the information." This scared Amy, but Rachel seemed miffed to learning about this.

"This… whole time, I've had my boyfriend within my household and didn't know about it!?" she growled.

"This whole time, my boyfriend is older than me?" shivered Amy. Not sure how to proceed with the explanation, Luna pawed Jimmy with an idea.

"If I can, I may have a remedy for this dilemma," she mewed. Jimmy wondered about Luna's method.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked. Luna took a deep breath before the crescent moon mark on her forehead shot beams to Rachel and Amy. The beams lasted for a minute before they faded. Both girls clasped their heads before looking around. They seemed bewildered.

"Wait, are we back at the hotel?" asked Rachel. "Weren't we just being held by Fawful?" Jimmy blinked before Luna had a solution.

"It was just a bad dream you two had," she lied. "You passed out on the beach after you reunited with Amy and Conan." Jimmy awed Serena's cat's briefing.

' _Smooth...'_ he thought.

"It felt so lifelike," Amy added. Jimmy had a plan for that.

"Just a little too much beach air, nothing to get overwhelmed by. Besides, there's a party tonight and we gotta pack up."

"That's right," Rachel realized. "Tomorrow, we leave for home." As they gathered the clothes and souvenirs from Isle Delfino, Luna left for Serena's room. On the way, she spotted Kari and Kuriko discussing something with Gatomon and Elizabeth on the sideline.

"We've both helped Ash rather equally during the two weeks, not to mention saving and putting his life in danger," Kuriko admitted.

"I guess so," Kari agreed. "I admit that I've fallen for him as well. How should we settle this?" Luna heard the name, increasing her curiosity.

"What's the discussion, all of a sudden?" she asked.

" _Kari and Kuriko want Ash for themselves,"_ Elizabeth started. _"It's kinda been like this since the start but I understand why they have feelings for him. Heck, if I was alive and been part of what he's done..."_ Gatomon believed the ghost, understanding the situation.

"Well, tomorrow, we go back home," she pointed out. "What they should do is have the two spend the last night together with him since it'll probably be the last time they'll have a chance." The two girls heard the Digimon, pondering the possibility.

"Gatomon does have a point," Kari acknowledged. "We don't need an argument to see who deserves who more." Kuriko listened and agreed to the decision.

"You're right," she surrendered. "What we can do is ask and I'm sure he'll understand." Kari nodded, ready to confront Ash about their agreement.

" _Those two handled it better than InuYasha and Ichigo,"_ Elizabeth pointed out.

"Shall we?" requested Luna.

"Let's do so," Gatomon insisted. The sun made its voyage to the horizon. The hosts, Piantas, Nokis, Yoshis, Toads and vacationers made a party on Sirena Beach. Pete and Winry grilled skewered vegetables over a charcoal fire.

"What were you thinking?!" she chuckled. "It's freaking cold! You know better than to go outside without protection!"

"Hey, I defy the weather, not deny!" nagged Pete. "Besides, the emcee's a good sport about it." Shu and Nodoka came over to see if the vegetables finished grilling.

"Hey, how much longer?" asked Shu.

"Should be another minute or two." Winry saw the two holding hands.

"Ah… seems the two of you have found love between each other," she noticed.

"We're making our last night as memorable since we won't see each other again," Nodoka briefed. "It seems you're doing the same with Pete, right?"

"Well, not exactly… I like Pete but I've got someone else in mind." Pete sneered to Winry's comment.

"So that tackle and kiss you gave me about FLUDD was meaningless?" he recalled. Winry gulped to the reminder. Shu and Nodoka laughed to her reaction. Elsewhere, Serenity offered Chad some of the grilled food while Joey, Tenchi and Ryoko watched. Pikachu stood on Serenity's head.

"Thank you," Chad greeted. Serenity smiled to the compliment. She had more, though.

"Chad, these past two weeks, I've been close to you and never felt as protected aside from staying by Joey," she started. "In a sense, I can't leave you alone and don't want to…" Chad sensed Serenity's emotions.

"Is it alright if you just tell me upfront?"

"Sure… Chad, can I spend the last night with you? I feel more secured around you than anyone else." Chad felt humble to the request.

"That's heartfelt for you to say this. In all honesty, I started to like you for sometime myself. This is the last time unless luck has us meet." Serenity felt grateful for the acceptance that she leaped up to Chad and kissed him after Pikachu hopped off the brunette. Watching, Joey snickered to Serenity's confession.

"I don't know if I should break the news to Tristan and Duke about my sister having a boyfriend and a towering one at that?" he joked. Ryoko laughed to the unfortunate pair.

"Sucks to be them," she mocked. "Though, if I wasn't going after Lord Tenchi, you'd be my lucky coin." Joey shuttered to the thought of the teal-haired woman.

"This isn't about the casino winnings, is it?" Ryoko petted Joey's hair while giggling. Madison had her camcorder rolling around Kazuki, Yuna, Yukinari, Miharu and Den conversing. Yuna knelt to pet Den.

"I feel bad that Rosalina didn't stay and helped you with that phobia, Yukinari," she apologized.

"Don't worry about me, Yuna," he shrugged off with a smile. "I need to be the one to overcome this." Kazuki combed Yukinari's hair wild. Madison turned to see Jimmy, Amy, Rini, Max, Sasami and Shippo together with the Yoshis.

"I can't believe we spent two weeks already on the island," the fox demon awed.

"I know," Rini giggled. "What I didn't expect to come out of this was getting a boyfriend. I thought I'd wait until Serena's age to get one." TK came to see Madison about her time on the island.

"It's been a fun experience," he chuckled. Madison turned to TK and Patamon with the grilled vegetables.

"TK?" she gasped. TK offered a stick of the hot veggies.

"Want some?" Madison took a stick and began to eat. She chewed on the pineapple and giggled to the sweet and warm taste.

"That tastes so good!" Madison faced TK with something on her mind. "You know… I haven't had much of a chance to tell you since I didn't want to upset Kari…"

"We're friends. As long as it's not Davis…"

"I… see. Thank you for understanding… and…" She lunged and kissed TK while pointing the camcorder upward. TK seemed surprised about the kiss. May met with Ed and Al as Ash stood by the edge of the beach.

"We first met, you're in metal but now, how will the military greet you?" she asked.

"Knowing Colonel Hothead," Ed sighed. "He'd probably see me re-positioned to desk duty. After all, it's been a great while since Al and I have been complete flesh and blood." May agreed, appreciating their progress.

"Besides, learning about everyone of the future… and some of the past," Al joked. "I've seem to feel a lot better about life outside that shell."

"That's wonderful of you two to discover," May praised. "In fact, Al…" The younger Elric blinked before she gave him a kiss to the cheek. Al blushed to the kiss.

"Thanks, May." Ed turned to see InuYasha, Ichigo and Haru discussing without their swords. Kagome, Orihine and Elie stood by their warriors to maintain the peace.

"We've all got goals ahead of us when we return to our lands," Haru huffed. "Shadow Stones, Arancarr, demons..."

"True, and we've had plenty of time to settle it all," Ichigo huffed. "Maybe there'll be a time where we can exercise ourselves without them in the way." The girls heard Ichigo's hope and dashed it.

"That's what you think!" they shouted. Ichigo's face drooped to the denial.

"They can be a hard bunch, women are," InuYasha muttered. "By the way, I see Pete's got… what the hell?" Pete had links of plump sausages cooking where Diego came out with a rolling cart and something underneath a stainless steel lid.

"I've been wondering when you'd pull the Wisconsin out," he teased.

"Technically, it's Germany, Degs," Pete corrected. "And what better night to have bratwursts." Becky, Negi and Musica reached the grill as Ash turned the bratwursts over. "Not yet…" While they waited for the brats to cook, Yami spotted Kari and Kuriko approaching Ash.

"What's going on here?" he alerted. All turned to Ash and the two girls.

"Ash, do you have a moment?" asked Kuriko. Ash turned to the pair who've been by his side.

"Kari," he spoke. "Kuriko… Is something wrong?"

"Not necessarily, Ash," Kari muttered. "We've both fell for you and while we could argue for months, we're making a truce." Ash couldn't believe he had two girls fawning over him.

"You two?"

"I've fallen for you on first sight at the airport and for that," Kuriko confessed. "I've… practically lost all interest in Kazuki and inheriting his genes. I'd rather be on my own path than let my family tell me what I should be doing, even if I'm risking the lineage in magic."

"And we've helped each other during the two weeks," Kari added. "And besides, I've warmed up to you as well. Same can be said for Gatomon to Pikachu." Humbled, Ash smiled with a gigge.

"Thank you," he praised. "Believe me, I wasn't sure what to say." The girls giggled to his admittance.

"Well, we would've expected you to say to at least one of us the three words," Kuriko joked. "But we did just come out and say it ourselves, so we can forgive you."

"Come here!" urged Kari before they hugged each other. The three embraced was a sight for Musica to joke about.

"Kid's certainly a chick magnet," he chuckled. "I would think he'd be more for Sasami, but…" He turned to find Sasami and Shippo sharing slices of grilled green peppers. Serena and May found Diego and his tray. They couldn't see inside the tray but could smell it.

"I'm picking up chocolate!" drooled Serena. May nodded, also admiring the scent.

"I'm ready for what's under the lid!" she squealed. Diego heard the girls and felt confident to reveal the food underneath.

"Okay, girls!" he tried to ease. He gripped the handle on the lid. "This is what I've been working on for a while." Diego lifted the lid and revealed his project: a volcano cake, with chocolate pouring from the top. May and Serena's faces beamed in delight. "Ta da! What do you think? It's a scaled-down version of Corona Mountain!" Tongues from both girls hung out, drool dripping from their taste buds.

"The flowing chocolate, the chocolate cake…"

"This is impressive craftsmanship, Diego," Haru awed. May and Serena ripped a piece of the mountain and dipped in the flowing chocolate. They took a bite. The taste of the chocolate made May and Serena's eyes light up and they shrilled in excitement as they turned to the baker.

"This is… heaven!" the blond shouted.

"I wanna bathe in this sweet gold river!" cheered May. "Diego, I wanna love you!"

"So do I!" Diego began to sweat in fear to the girls' confessions.

"Uh oh…" he gulped. The two girls tackled Diego, smothering his face with kisses and stretching his shirt. Neo and Emma chuckled nervously to Diego's swarming.

"I had a bad feeling toward the Corona Mountain cake being brought out," Neo shrugged. After a minute, Diego had lipstick painting his face, including his lips a few times. With the island's citizens, the vacationers danced to tropical music. Ash had to trade-off Kari and Kuriko a couple of times, even having the two dance with each other. The two took the sly move in stride. The party wore out the group and they retired for the last night. Max, Rini, Sasami and Shippo slept in the same room as Ash, Kari and Kuriko. May snuggled with Alphonse with his brother and Winry. Chad had Serenity in his bed with Ichigo and Orihime. InuYasha and Kagome, Kazuki and Yuna, Yukinari and Miharu, and Haru and Elie had their rooms to themselves. Negi, Becky, Shu and Nodoka shared a room, as did TK, Madison, Sakura and Li. Tenchi and Ryoko had a bit of roughhousing in their room. There was one last room where the creatures slept together, sharing with Serena and Darrien. Rachel, Jimmy and Amy remained quiet in theirs. Tomorrow, the vacationers say goodbye.

* * *

TO BE CONCLUDED...


	18. Farewell, Isle Delfino

_Chapter 18/Final: Farewell, Isle Delfino!_

* * *

The morning sun arisen. Pete, Shu and Nodoka were in the kitchen making breakfast for the vacationers. Everyone else slept with their loved ones on the trip. "I can't believe two weeks have passed by already," Nodoka huffed.

"I know, and we barely got to know each other," Shu chuckled. "If I wanted to bring Rebecca to the island for happiness, well…"

"She's happy with Professor Negi." Just then, Winry entered the kitchen and came to Pete to begin the last morning.

"Hey, Pete!" she greeted before giving the blond a kiss to the cheek. "It's gonna be a long ride back to Resembool. I'm gonna miss time with you." Pete didn't think Winry's departure was a big deal.

"Not a problem," he responded. "We have something for everyone. Besides, I bet Degs had the most fun. After all, he's got more love than I did with May, Serena and Sasami." Winry shook her head with a smile.

"Hey, you got me, though!" Pete huffed a chuckle. "Speaking of Degs, where'd he go?" Nodoka recalled something earlier.

"If you're referring to Diego, he said he's finishing the cookies for Sasami and Rini," she replied. Knowing now, Pete figured the reasoning.

"I thought there was something he wanted to do after the cake last night," he muttered before a new voice spoke up.

"...Just like the first quarter!" a man's voice spoke up. All looked around to see where the voice came from. "Seattle, you're the visiting team, what are you calling?"

"I like to call Heads," another voice spoke up.

"Heads is called…" Pete realized where the sound came from. He and Winry rushed to a laptop where Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki were watching a video.

"Heads!" a few people cheered.

"Seattle has won the toss!" the first man announced.

"We want the ball and we're gonna score!" the second man predicted. Then, laughs from the laptop and the animals echoed. Pete itched his head to clip found by the two.

"His good day continues with calling heads," another voice explained. "But then at the end, you hear him and that was over the PA system in Lambeau Field, saying 'We want the ball and we're gonna score'." Winry wondered what Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki watched.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Football," Pete murmured. "It's a game between Seattle and Green Bay and what you heard was Seattle's quarterback claiming they're gonna win overtime." Pete worked the laptop to minutes later. "In a sense, his claim came true." The video continued.

"They're coming…" the announcer warned. A crowd soon cheered. "The pass is picked off! Intercepted! Back the other way! The Green Bay Packers advance!" Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki cheered to the end. "Touchdown, Al Harris!" Winry awed the reaction.

"That's how it ended?" she guessed. "Wild…"

"Yeah," Pete chuckled. "Listen, the future is wonderful but all we can do is enjoy the here and now. I'm sure Ed and Al will need time to readjust to your home and they'll need time to adjust to them in flesh and blood."

"Right, no more auto-mail… and they were my best customers!" The vacationers began to stir so they could have a final breakfast together. Ash, Kari and Kuriko still slept without a concern about waking up. May, Max, Al and Rini entered to find the three in their undergarments. They slept tight under the blankets.

"Don't you feel the least bit jealous, May?" asked Rini. The noise didn't stir either of the three but did bring Elizabeth out of Kuriko's body.

" _Could you guys keep it down?"_ she groaned. Rini became scared instantly and clutched Max for protection.

"We'd love to but we're gonna need to pack out bags," Max advised. Ash soon woke to the sounds of everyone. Kari and Kuriko felt Ash move and started to wake and see everyone. This made Al wonder if all they did was sleep.

"How close did the three of you cuddle?" he questioned.

"Al, when you love someone, there's never a thing as 'too close'," Kuriko joked. Rini laughed to the tease as they excused themselves to let the three dress. They joined everyone for a last breakfast with the hosts. Even Ichigo, InuYasha and Haru have put aside their swords for last words before going home.

"One day, I'd want to settle a score with you, Ichigo," InuYasha wished. "And from what I heard from Emma, we may have that opportunity."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't make any bets should we find each other again," Ichigo warned. As the vacationers had breakfast, the hosts gathered together with arms holding pendants.

"Everyone, we'd enjoy having you guys here," Emma praised. "So, to commemorate your visit, we're handing you these Isle Delfino pendants." The pendants were in the shape of the dolphin-like island seen by Kazuki and Joey.

"Cool!" awed Joey. "They're just like what we saw riding Ryo-Ohki!" Neo distributed the pendants and had more to say about them.

"These pendants aren't just for show," he started. "They'll link you to each other, regardless of where they're from. We did notice that plenty of you have developed relationships with other parties and this would help reach them." Each vacationer wore the pendants around their necks. Yami had two items to wear around his: the Millennium Puzzle and the pendant.

"Thank you," he replied. Once everyone ate, they had a few things to do. First, pack their bags. The vacationers returned to their rooms which some even wrapped Super Mushrooms for the ride home, mainly Becky, Negi and Jimmy.

"Got your stuff?" asked Rachel. Jimmy and Amy lifted their bags up. An hour later, everyone gathered in front of the hotel, saying goodbye to a home they called for the two weeks. Madison, Rini and Serenity clicked pictures of everyone who came. Diego drove up to the hotel with an announcement.

"Edward, Alphonse, Winry," he called. "The boat's arrived to take you guys back." The named sighed, but knew their lives away from their home were ending. Meeting at the docks on the Wiggler bus, they arrived to see the boat that Winry and the Elrics boarded. The vacationers gave the three hugs and handshakes. The captain saw the trio but did a double-take.

"Hold on!" he voiced. "I recognize Rockbell and Shorty, but who's the other-"

"Don't call me shorty!" stammered Ed. The captain scoffed to Ed's shout.

"Sorry… Anyway, who's the young man there? And where's Alphonse?" The named Elric came forward to present himself.

"Sorry if I seem unrecognizable," he apologized. "But I got my body back, and so did Ed." The captain seemed dumbfounded with the discovery.

"I see…" Winry gave Pete one last hug before boarding the ship with Den. Ed and Al soon boarded as well after one last shake and Al hugging May. Once they boarded, the ship left to many waives from their fellow vacationers.

"I'm sure we'll see them again," Yukinari believed. Turning, Elie spotted Diego with two sacks and a pan.

"Whatcha got in there?" she asked. Diego turned to the brunette to answer.

"See, Rini and Sasami asked me if I could make some cookies to share with their friends," he replied. He knelt to the girls and Ryo-Ohki who stood by the turquoise-haired girl. "These are for you." Eyes glistening, Rini and Sasami couldn't wait to have the cookies. Looking inside, they found the cookies to be like the pendants: dolphin-shaped.

"Thank you, Diego!" they cheered before kissing him on the cheeks. Diego laughed to the kisses. That's when he glanced to Ryo-Ohki.

"You, little cabbit… I'm giving you an entire carrot cake!" Ryo-Ohki's eyes lit up before she transformed. This time, she became a young woman, much taller than her other form when she's with Pikachu that one night. All but Tenchi and Ryoko were shocked.

"Ryo-Ohki can become… that?" gawked Li.

"That cabbit… scares me," Haru shuttered. Ryo-Ohki tackled Diego before showering him with kisses. Everyone laughed to the shower. After the kiss, everyone boarded the bus for Sunshine Airport. Their time together began there, such as where it would end. Everyone arrived and handshakes, hugs and kisses traded throughout. Serenity jumped and gave Chad a hug with Joey and Orihime watching.

"Aren't you happy to see your sister getting love?" asked the redhead.

"Well, it's not Tristan or Duke, and I can live with it," Joey expressed. "Though, it's kinda creepy getting love from a space pirate." As if summoned, Ryoko appeared behind Joey. Her presence nerved him.

"You bellowed?" she teased. Joey jumped a little, but enough to allow Ryoko a swift smooch to between his eyes. Orihime laughed to the trade. Yukinari, Kazuki, Yuna and Miharu shook, enjoying the time together.

"Will you be okay, Yukinari?" wondered Yuna. "After all, you still have that 'Girl Rash' since Rosalina didn't wish you anything." Yukinari laughed, not concerned.

"It's my problem," he replied. "I've got to be the one to overcome it." Miharu had a question as she turned to Kuriko, Kari and Ash in a three-way hug.

"What will you do with Kuriko?" the pink-haired wondered.

"She has family to see," Yuna answered. "But, it's nice to know that she won't be going after Kazuki for his genes, and as his wife, I can enjoy as much fun with him and not worry about him turning to ash for using his magic." Miharu smiled, knowing Yuna's boyfriend won't die as easily. Jimmy, Amy, Rini and Max had one last get-together.

"With these, we can have another slumber party if we want to," Rini plotted. "Not to mention, we could do it in Max's world." Jimmy, Amy and Max laughed to the suggestion.

"I would like to see where Max lives and plan what we could do there," Amy added. Haru, Musica, Elie and Plue were the first to leave as they boarded their blimp. They waived farewell to the new friends they made. Once everyone boarded their jets and other airborne vehicles after their farewell gestures. The planes and blimps lifted off, going away from the island. Pete, Diego, Neo and Emma nodded to each other, plans to fix what mess the vacationers made.

* * *

 _(Pallet Town, months later)_

Ash and Pikachu stood on a hill overlooking a quaint town. It was a sigh of relief for the two. "Pallet Town," he recognized. "We're back home, Pikachu." His Pokémon partner squeaked to finally making it home. "Let's go see how everyone's doing." Pikachu agreed as they began making their move to see everyone. Within ten minutes, they arrived at a white house with a built-in porch. Taking a deep breath, Ash prepared to enter inside… but the doorknob turned unexpectedly. Ash stepped back, wondering who's exiting. Without warning, someone flew out and hugged Ash, Pikachu jumping off.

"Ash, you're home!" shouted Kuriko. Ash gawked to the surprise.

"Kuriko?! What's going on?!" Kuriko wasn't the only surprise for Ash as Kari and Gatomon exited the house to find him as well.

"Welcome home, Ash," she greeted.

"You too, Kari?"

"Of course! And everyone else came by." This made Ash curious as Kuriko rubbed her cheek to his.

"Everyone?" Kuriko stopped rubbing his face briefly.

"Everyone from the vacation on Isle Delfino," she clarified. Pikachu began to picture seeing Ryo-Ohki again, as well as other creatures. "We couldn't wait to see you but learning you'd be coming home, we decided to camp when you did make it." Ash felt at ease about their visit.

"Your mom is awesome with food," Kari added. "In fact, Kuriko, TK and I tried her Deep Dish Chili Dog Pizza." Kuriko nodded to confirm her story.

"Never have I had something I could pass to my family's employees within the Kazetsubaki Foundation." Ash giggled to the thought.

"Mom never fails to impress," he admitted. "But if everyone arrived, Rini may be a bit disappointed." Gatomon looked around and realized why.

"I was gonna ask, where's Max?" she questioned.

"Back home in Petalburg City with May." Gatomon sighed, but couldn't do anything about it. "So, is everyone visiting the ranch at Professor Oak's backyard?"

"That's what I've been told," Kuriko reported. "Wanna go see them?"

"Of course, if it means telling Rini about it." The three left for a reunion with their vacationers. For two weeks, friends and rivals were made. Love came to those who weren't expecting to find any, and memories were forever etched in the minds and hearts of those who escaped their everyday lives to enjoy time together.

"By the way, when Joey and Serenity came by," Gatomon spoke up. "They showed Tristan and Duke a picture of her and Chad together and… they wet themselves." Ash and Pikachu burst out laughing to this briefing.

"Gatomon!" snapped Kari.

"Didn't Davis lose it when you said you loved Ash and that you didn't want to hear his rebukes?"

"I did, but you didn't have to say that much," chuckled Kuriko. A reunion would take place, with Ash having two girls who'd share love to him. Perhaps a return to Isle Delfino would give the three that chance if they chose.

* * *

THE END


End file.
